A lawyer who served as a commissioner in Akwa Ibom State under the governor, Lord Akpabiohas painted a picture of Mr. Akpabio as a leader who seeks to bring down his own allies to gain dominance in politics.
Mr. Akpabio was the governor of Akwa Ibom State from 2007 to 2015. He was succeeded by Governor Udom Emmanuel whose administration will end in the next four months.
In the exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES last week, Emmanuel Enodemthe former commissioner, said Mr. Akpabio will stop at nothing to ensure that his political friends do not make progress in politics, whether at the state or national level.
“Because Akpabio does not want a strongman, when he wanted to leave the government, before he gave it up, he said that we who are in his (Akpabio) government should not last more than one year in the government of Udom Emmanuel,” he said. Mr. Enoidem said in an interview that gave him a rare insight into power politics in Akwa Ibom State during the Akpabio era.
Mr. Enoidem was the commissioner for Housing & Urban Renewal from 2013 to 2014 under Mr. Akpabio. Akpabio then moved him to become the commissioner of Special Duties from 2013 to 2015.
As a member of Mr. Akpabio’s kitchen cabinet, he was one of the most powerful commissioners at the time.
He told PREMIUM TIMES that apart from supporting Mr. Akpabio for governorship, he bought it People’s Democratic Party (PDP) nominated Mr. Akpabio to the Senate in 2015.
Before his appointment as a commissioner, Mr. Enoidem was the PDP treasurer in Akwa Ibom from 2001 to 2007.
He later served in the administration of Governor Emmanuel as the commissioner for Investment, Trade and Industry from 2015 to 2016.
‘Akpabio Conspiracy’
Mr. Enoidem said when Governor Emmanuel refused to yield to Mr. Akpabio’s pressure to drop him and others from his cabinet, the former governor devised another way by pretending to want him to be the PDP national legal counsel.
He said it was the same Mr. Akpabio who mobilized the South-south regional bloc against him when he resigned as a commissioner to contest for the party’s legal adviser position.
“Akpabio went and conspired with (House of Reps member) Emmanuel Ekon that APC has a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) as legal counsel, how can they bring Enoidem who is not a SAN, what if there is a case between PDP and APC? He took the story to ( Governor) Wike (of Rivers State), but Udom Emmanuel said no, it is his choice and there is no provision in the PDP constitution that you have to be a SAN before becoming the legal adviser of the party.
“That’s how I became the party’s legal adviser,” he said.
Mr. Enoidem said Mr. Akpabio accorded him the same treatment as Otu Ita Toyo who was the PDP chairman in Akwa Ibom when Mr. Akpabio won the 2006 governorship primary party in the state.
“He (Akpabio) is the one who ordered Toyo to become the (PDP) chairman of the South-South zone. They are also the ones who stopped because they don’t want people who have a voice,” said Mr. Enoidem.
Mr. Akpabio had chosen and supported Edet Mkpubre, who was not part of the party’s politics at the time, to fill the position of PDP national deputy chairman, South-south zone, instead of Mr. Toyo.
“Akpabio wants someone who is not very strong,” Mr Enoidem said of Mr Mkpubre’s choice.
Example of tinubu
Mr. Enoidem compared Mr. Akpabio to Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, who is the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Tinubu left government in 2007 as the governor of Lagos State and promoted people in the western states. When he was satisfied with the west, he went to the north and promoted people – he made people governors, ministers, sent people to the Senate, the House of Representatives .
“Godswill Akpabio thinks he can be a leader without having strong people, without encouraging others to be strong. God will not let that happen. Tinubu waited for a long time, raised people and strategies to win the 2015 presidential election (for APC), then Godswill Akpabio jumped ship to go and join people because they need to eat ready food.
“Akpabio has no history of loyalty, not to God, not to any political party or anyone else,” he said.
Messrs. Enoidem and Akpabio collapsed while Mr. Akpabio defection from PDP to APC in 2018. Both want to represent Akwa Ibom North-West in the Senate in 2023.
Mr. Enoidem was the PDP candidate for the election, while Mr. Akpabio was in court, fighting for the APC ticket.
“In a free and fair election, I will win Godswill Akpabio for the 10th time,” Mr. Enoidem boasted in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES.
Jackson Udom, the media assistant to Mr. Akpabio, told PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday that he would respond “soon” to the demands made by Mr. Enoidem.
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