How Akpabio traded off gov ticket with Ewang for APC leader in Akwa Ibom

• Akpanudoedehe, Umana Umana, Ita Enang ‘rocked’ the deal

As the crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State worsens, certain internal political horse trading is being exposed. Some APC stakeholders had revealed that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, allegedly traded off the party’s governorship ticket to a former Military Administrator (MILAD), retired Group Captain Sam Ewang, in exchange for the APC leader in Akwa Ibom State. The Minister was said to have purportedly promised to sponsor the MILAD, Ewang, for the APC governorship ticket for the 2023 general elections, while Ewang was to support Akpabio for the APC leader in Akwa Ibom State. The surreptitious political horse trading increased the conflicts in Akwa Ibom APC; Ewang had consistently insisted that Akpabio is the APC leader in the state, but he has been vehemently opposed by other prominent APC leaders in the state who insist the Ita Udosen is the APC leader in Akwa Ibom.

Party sources revealed to National Daily that notable APC stakeholders in Akwa Ibom at war with Akpabio for the control of the state party include Sen. John James Akpanudoedehe, National Secretary of the APC Caretaker Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC); Umana Okon Umana, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA); Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta Affairs, Ita Enang; Dr. Amadu Atai, Ita Udosen, Obong Sunny Jackson, Member, South-South APC Reconciliation Committee; among others.

Party sources in Akwa Ibom, further revealed that based on the purported agreement for the APC governorship ticket, Ewang had led a faction of the state APC to insist that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, is the APC leader in the state, arguing that the minister is the highest-ranking political leader in the state at the federal level.

The former MILAD of Ogun and Rivers States, retired Group Capt. Sam Ewang, accordingly, in a communique after a meeting of a faction of the party, declared: “The meeting settled the issue of who is the leader of the party in Akwa Ibom State, recognized and affirmed that the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, is the leader of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State.

“The meeting condemned the divisive gathering of factions within the party and resolved to call on all factional leaders to bury their individual interests and come under a united APC in Akwa Ibom State.

“The meeting condemned actions by some persons in leadership positions of the party who work with other political parties in the State and are currently romancing the Peoples Democratic Party, thereby engaging in anti-party activities and causing confusion among members.”

However, the opposing camp countered the Ewang group, declared the APC caretaker chairman in Akwa Ibom State, Ita Udosen, is the recognized APC leader in the state, not the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio.

APC stakeholders from the three senatorial districts in Akwa Ibom had held a meeting in Abuja, after their second meeting in Uyo, where they resolved that their decision was in accordance with Article 12.9 Sub (i) of the party’s constitution (October 2014 As Amended), affirming it recognises the chairman, who is also the chairman of the State Caucus as the party leader.

The stakeholders affirmed the State Executive Committee (SEC) nullification of the unilateral declaration of Akpabio as the state APC leader.

Apparently, Akpanudoedehe, Umana Umana, Ita Enang, and others consolidated their forte to neutralize the Akpabio’s deal with Ewang.

According to party sources on the state, both camps deployed their links with the Abuja powers to fight the battle for the control of the APC in Akwa Ibom. While Akpabio utilized his influence in the federal cabinet, and closeness to a section of the presidency, Akpanudoedehe took advantage of being the National Secretary of the APC Caretaker Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), in addition to Ita Enang’s influence in the presidency, including others, to counter the minister and his group. Akpanudoedehe group had advantage in the APC membership revalidation/registration exercise, and the recent ward congresses in Akwa Ibom, leaving the minister’s group with protests and counter-protests.

Indeed, Ewang had earlier declared the plan to send a 10-man delegation to the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, Governor Mala Buni of Yobe State to protest the party’s membership revalidation/ registration, seeking cancellation of the exercise and conducting of fresh exercise in Akwa Ibom State.