Date Published: 02/09/10

Editor,

Obj, Attah, Etiebet & Anti-Party activities

Chief Don Etiebet wrote an open petition against the former governor of Akwa Ibom, Arc Victor Attah. The letter was supposed to have been addressed to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees. One wonders why Etiebet decided to make it an open (media) letter. This smacks of party indiscipline and no respect for former President Obasanjo as the BoT boss.

In the past, Attah had written a letter to Governor Akpabio and when the governor ignored him as usual, Attah allowed it to be published in the newspapers. Etiebet was the one that bought full page in the newspapers to take up Attah on why he had to follow the pattern of ‘open letter’ instead of allowing it to stay in governor Akpabio’s closet. 

It should be recalled that Etiebet and governor Akpabio were reported by the media for making anti-party statements that comforted Peter Obi for re-election. The duo had insisted that the past PDP governments in Anambra ran a failed government. Their statements were even as the PDP had brought out Professor Chukwuma Soludo as its flag-bearer for the February 6 gubernatorial election. This definitely would have a negative pressure on the chances of Soludo. Their anti-party statements have remained ready reference for respected paper columnists and other writers.  

Going back to Etiebet’s petition; it sounded childish. One wonders how anti-party it is for Attah suggesting that democracy would be (more) strongly rooted in Nigeria if there exists another strong party to challenge the ruling PDP. Unless PDP was fooling Nigerians, one feels that Attah’s suggestion was in consonance with what the Party had been trying to convince the nation that after all there were not trying to sell a one-party system it was being accused of.

Etiebet, it would be recalled, ran out of PDP at a time to ANPP. After becoming the ANPP National Chairman returned to his ‘vomit’ (PDP); if PDP were a disciplined party, this action in itself is a strong anti-party activity as he may have sold some PDP ideas to ANPP then.

Kenneth Abimbola Esq.,

Plot 15 Road 23 Agip Estate,

Port Harcourt.