Mr. Umana Okon Umana, immediate past Secretary to Akwa Ibom State
\nGovernment, has re-assured his teeming supporters throughout the state and
\nbeyond that he is still in the governorship race.<\/p>\n
Noting that the contest for the office of governor of the state is open to
\nall eligible aspirants irrespective of his senatorial district, Umana
\ncalled on politicians in the state who are willing and ready to feel free
\nand enter the race.<\/p>\n
A communiqu\u00e9 issued by the state chapter of the PDP after its executive
\ncommittee meeting on Tuesday had sought to create confusion in the minds
\nof the people of the state by stating that the party has \u201czoned the
\ngovernorship position to Eket Senatorial District,\u201d while at the same time
\nconcluding that its position on zoning \u201cis without prejudice to the right
\nof any other person from other senatorial districts to contest for the
\ngovernorship seat in 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201dUmana, a leading governorship contender in the 2015 race, noted that the
\ncontradiction and double speak in the position of the SEC of the party
\nreaffirm that there is no zoning in the choice of candidates for election
\nin the party, a position, he noted, that is also confirmed by the policy
\nstatement of the National Chairman of the party.<\/p>\n
He said the vote for open contest is consistent with the history of
\nelectoral contest in the state, which shows that the office of governor is
\nalways keenly contested by aspirants from the three senatorial districts,
\nafter which all other positions are shared among the 10 federal
\nconstituencies that make up Akwa Ibom State. He accordingly urged his
\nsupporters to remain calm and trust in God\u2019s perfect will over the
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Umana noted Governor Godswill Akpabio\u2019s argument that the governorship
\nposition has been zoned to Eket Senatorial District in the interest of
\njustice because the district has never produced a governor, and observed
\nthat many commentators have already said that the governor cannot be
\ncorrect, because in the larger territory of the old Cross River State,
\nEket Senatorial District had produced Governor U.J.Esuene, who ruled for
\nnine years and Dr. Clement Isong, who ruled for four years, making it a
\ntotal of 13 years for the district.<\/p>\n
Umana also noted that the most favoured of the aspirants being paraded for
\nthe 2015 election comes from the same Eket federal constituency as the two
\nformer governors. Other observers have noted, too, that the current
\nmanaging director\/chief executive of the Niger Delta Development
\nCommission is also from Eket federal constituency, wondering what justice
\nis all about, given the argument of the promoters of zoning that they are
\nfighting for justice.<\/p>\n
The former SSG observed that if the entire manoeuvring over the 2015
\nelection was about zoning, rather than an imposition of a particular
\ncandidate, then a level playing field would have been created for even
\nother aspirants from the same federal constituency as the preferred
\ncandidate for the election. He noted that other aspirants from Eket and
\nother parts of the state have the same right as the preferred candidate,
\nwho should not be made to enjoy any advantage over others in the name of
\nzoning.<\/p>\n
Umana explained that the motive of the promoters of zoning is to give
\nundue advantage to a particular aspirant from one federal constituency at
\nthe expense of all other aspirants from the remaining nine constituencies.
\nAccording to the former SSG, based on the electoral history of Akwa Ibom
\nState, there is no alternative to open contest that is also free and
\ntransparent. He re-emphasised that he is still in the race, adding that
\npower belongs to God who gives it to whoever He pleases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mr. Umana Okon Umana, immediate past Secretary to Akwa Ibom State Government, has re-assured his teeming supporters throughout the state and beyond that he is still in the governorship race.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n