Why A’Ibom APC Nominates Akan Udofia As Guber Candidate, Chieftain Reveals
By TONY ITA ETIMWed, Jun 01, 2022

Honourable Eseme Eyiboh
The All Progressives Congress candidate for the Eket federal constituency in the just concluded primaries in Akwa Ibom state, Hon Eseme Eyiboh, has given reason why the party elected a person, who decamped recently from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as APC gubernatorial candidate for the 2023 general elections.

Eyiboh gave the reasons during a media interaction with members of the Correspondents' Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Akwa Ibom State Council.

The former lawmaker declared that Akan Udofia is coming to govern Akwa Ibom State with an Enterprise Development Instinct and is the best match for the PDP governorship candidate, Pastor Umo Eno, who is coming into politics with a business background.

According to Eyiboh, the 2023 governorship race in Akwa Ibom is going to be a well contested election because the candidates of the two leading parties are coming with business backgrounds from the private sector.

Eyiboh continued that the APC did not want to choose a candidate who has a poor public perception and those who have been in active politics since 1999 without impacting the people and point out what they have done in the state.

He boasted that the APC wants to jump start Akwa Ibom and Akan Udofia will reset it but not from a bureaucratic platform, and insisted that the candidate has stability of mind.

On the issue of parallel primaries that produced multiple candidates for the various positions, Eyiboh retorted, “Don't allow anybody to tell you that there were no gubernatorial primaries in Akwa Ibom. It took place. And it is the wish of the people that Akan Udofia is the governorship candidate.”

Eyiboh challenged who claimed they are APC candidates in the race to show evidence of their claims to victories during the primaries in the state.

On the internal crisis, divisions and infighting in Akwa Ibom APC, Eyiboh debunked, “So, if you want to know whether there are factions in APC, there is no faction in APC. Why there are no factions in APC is that there is only one APC headed by Alh. Abdullahi Adamu,and if you know any other one, you can bring him up.

"If you agree that the law recognizes that there is only one APC, whoever is delegated by the instrument of the APC is the agent of the APC. So,if you agree that Adamu is the national chairman of the party, what is the structure of APC in Akwa Ibom state?

"We have Austin Ekanem, and we have Stephen Ntuekpo,and the matter went to the federal high court. The court gave a judgement and the party headed by Abdullahi Adamu recognised the Stephen Ntuekpo-led exco by the judgement of the court. There is no other superior judgement. And after that he went ahead to admit him on oath as the chairman of the party.

"This is very clear. Other parties went to court even when they were not an interested party as it was at the court of first instance, the names and the persons were not mentioned. The party before the court is the court of first instance. So, the court of appeal is asking for the status quo to be maintained and what does that mean? Where were you before coming here?, where were they at the point of judgement at the federal high court?. So, Ntuekpo is the state chairman of the party because he was the one declared by the court.

"Whether the court did what it in good faith is not a subject for you and I to debate, it is a subject of appeal and unless a superior court of competent jurisdiction decides otherwise,any other who is doing it,is doing an ostrich dance in the theatre of the absurd'"


On his candidacy, Eyiboh explained that the APC primary which was conducted on May 27,2022, for the constituency, produced different outcomes as two other aspirants have also laid claim to victories following parallel primaries conducted in the constituency.

Eyiboh who was declared the winner in the contest challenged those laying claims to his victory to show which of the election committee panel conducted their primaries.

He replied his opponents that elections are not conducted with a piece of paper but with sensitive materials and ballot papers which are used in determining the authenticity of who is doing what

According to him" there was a panel constituted by the APC to go and conduct the primaries, where was the panel? And I hear people saying that there was a parallel primary,who had the team, the panel that came to conduct. That is the number one question and it's not a rhetorical question,it must be answered. Number two,who were the other people that conducted the other primaries?

" Do people just take a piece of paper and go and conduct primary?. No!, there are sensitive materials where results are recorded and announced. These are things you use in determining the authenticity of who is doing what.

"The panel who produced the results and the other sets of people who were holding a convention of undisclosed purpose, you don't even bother to find out what is the result of what they did, who conducted it, let them announce it and put the names of the panel who disclosed it. These are the things we need to be aware of. There is one APC, there was one primary conducted and there was a result"

The former parliamentarian who expressed confidence in his victory during the election also debunked insinuations that there are factions in the APC in the state.

Source: https://thesouthernexaminer.com/why-aibom-apc-nominates-akan-udofia-as-guber-candidate-chieftain-reveals-p7930-255.htm

Good pick. The pastor should return to the church of God.