A former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Victor Attah, has doubted the
capacity of ex-governor of the state, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to ensure
victory for the All Progressives Congress in the state in 2019.
Akpabio, who quit as the Senate Minority Leader recently defected from the
Peoples Democratic Party to the APC.
Attah said, “If APC manages to win Akwa Ibom today, it would be in spite
of rather than because of Akpabio. This is because if you leave it to
Akpabio, I really don’t believe APC can go far in Akwa Ibom State. This is
what I know to be the situation.’’
The ex-governor, who spoke with News men on Thursday, said the APC
celebrated Akpabio at the national level and that it was a completely
different story at the state level.
He added, “There is a saying in my home town that ‘if you manage to cook a
pot of soup, cover it properly because if you allow unworthy creatures
like cockroaches, millipedes to crawl in, they make it sour.’ This may
just happen to the APC at the state level. As an elder statesmen and an
objective observer of what is going on in Akwa Ibom, there was a time I
would have said that Akwa Ibom had become at least 80 per cent APC. I
wouldn’t have been wrong.’’
Attah also stated that there was a time the whole state was PDP and there
were fights among the members, adding, “Suddenly, Akpabio came and many
moved to the APC. But today, there are defections as many of them returned
to the PDP. The APC in Akwa Ibom has to be careful otherwise they could
turn their pot of soup completely sour by certain things they are doing.’’
According to him, at the national level, the PDP took a rookie first-time
senator and gave him a ranking position.
He noted, “The leader of the opposition is the leader of that party in the
Senate. You sang his praises and celebrated him. He leaves your party and
you say he is a criminal and running away from the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission.”