Date Published: 10/23/09

Ifim Ibom Ibibio slams injunction on Ibibio Governorship Aspirant in 2011

As a build-up to the 2011 governorship elections in Akwa Ibom State, Ifim Ibom Ibibio, the Supreme Council of Ibibio Traditional Rulers has placed a traditional injunction restraining any Ibibio son or daughter from contesting the governorship position.

Rather, the Supreme Council has re-affirmed its 2007 Resolution ceding the eighth-year governorship mandate to Annang people in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District in the state.

Reading the resolution in his country home, Ikot Edor in ONNA Local Government Area, the Vice President of the Council, Akwa Edidem Akpabio Udo Ukpa said the governorship position to Annang was taken based on equity and fair play while the senatorial seat was ceded to Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency, being Ibibio extraction.

Edidem  Ukpa who stated this Thursday in his palace when the state governor, Chief Godswill O. Akpabio paid him a courtesy visit, recalled that on November 14, 2006 at an extra-general meeting held at Asan Ibibio, Ikot Oku Ikono, the Council expanded to include Ibibio sub-groups- Akwa Esop Imaisong Ibibio, Ibibio Elders Forum,, Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio, Esop Iban Ibibio, among others took the resolution.

He commended Governor Akpabio for visiting him in his palace, saying such visit should be included in his biography.

Ukpa who is also the Paramount Ruler of ONNA described the governor’s development strides in the last two years as remarkable, stating that it wasn’t the people who chose him to be a governor but God did so.

The Council’s Vice President declared that “There is no power to revoke the mandate given to Chief Akpabio in 2006 by the Ibibio. There is no change to this mandate. I hereby re-affirm the mandate given to you at Asan Ibibio recently”.

Responding, Chief Akpabio expressed happiness to the Supreme Council for taking a firm stance on the governorship race to check bad blood and unhealthy rivalry among the aspirants as it was in 2006 when 58 people gunned for the position.

Akpabio recollected that in 2003 as a Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, he had visited the same paramount ruler to consult on an important state matter but the royal father asked him to kneel down for prayers and thereafter pronounced him as the next governor of the state, saying that his governorship ambition was kick-started in that palace.

He acknowledged the closeness of the royal fathers to God and advised their subjects to always accord them respect because “Whoever rises to this apex position should be revered. Whatever they bless is blessed, and whatever they curse is cursed”.

The governor recapped that during the governorship race in 2006, he was not disturbed because of the spiritual backing he got from various quarters, noting “When I started the race, there were many storms, but I was confident that I would win at last”.

Akpabio mentioned that the recent reconciliation in the PDP is a good sign in that he has been declared as a sole candidate for the party and called on other aspirants to bury their lies, false propaganda, deceit and violence in the interest of peace and development of the state, saying “If any body or prophet tells you that you will become the next governor, find out the time. Only wait for your time, don’t hurry so that you may not miss the mark”.

He told the people his conviction on unity of the state and the need for people to unite because even in the Northern part of the Country, there are other dialectal groups, yet they speak with one voice, saying that “When I became a governor, I started the unification process which has now worked out. The monolithic Akwa Ibom State of our dream could only come if we speak with one voice”.