A former aide to Lord Akpabio has claimed that Mr. Akpabio’s wife, Uloma, was barred from entering the Uyo Government House to see him. Governor Udom Emmanuel in October 2020.
The Uyo Government House is the office and official residence of Governor Emmanuel (Governor’s Lodge).
Mr. Akpabio is Mr. Emmanuel’s predecessor.
The assistant, Ata Ikiddeh, who is a lawyer, said in an article posted on Facebook there was a former First Lady of the country at Government House to send a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari to Mr. Emmanuel.
The letter, according to him, contained the president’s communication to the governor on his (Buhari’s) decision on police reform and other demands of Nigerian youths during EndSARS protestedto distribute to the citizens of the country.
A similar letter is said to have been sent to other governors.
Mr. Akpabio, then minister of Niger Delta Affairs, intended to present the letter to Governor Emmanuel but he left the responsibility to his wife because he had other engagements in Abuja, Ikiddeh said.
Ikiddeh, who is based in London, was a special assistant in project monitoring to Mr. Akpabio when the latter was governor of Akwa Ibom.
He currently works with the president of Nigeria as a consultant and coordinator of the President Buhari Legacy Project.
‘He collapsed and cried in pain’
“He (Unoma) introduced himself to the security guard at the gate. They all knew who he was and would let him in but protocol had to be followed.
“He said to the residents of the Governor’s residence. No one knows what was sent to the gate, but the former First Lady was denied permission. And this is not an exaggeration, she was kept outside the gate for a good six hours, she could not believe that Udom had risked everything – including marriage – to treat her this way. He broke down in his car and cried in pain,” Mr. Ikiddeh said in a long Facebook post that has been shared on the social media site by some of Mr. Akpabio’s political supporters.
“He has never witnessed this level of gratitude in his life, it is a hot knife that cuts through his heart. He has never quarreled with Governor Udom. The pain is indescribable,” he added.
However, Ikiddeh did not state that the governor was aware of Mrs. Akpabio’s visit.
Governor Emmanuel’s spokesperson, Ekerete Udoh, did not respond to calls and text messages seeking his comment.
Before the incident that Mr. Ikiddeh narrated took place, it appears that the relationship between the former governor and his successor had soured, which may have led to Mr. Akpabio’s resignation from People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressive Congress (APC) in August 2018.
It deteriorated to the point where Mr. Akpabio’s wife publicly breaking protocol and trying to get rid of it Governor Emmanuel’s wife, Martha, so that she (Unoma) can receive the visit of the First Lady of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari, at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo.
A clips from the embarrassing incident showing Mrs. Buhari and her entourage retreated inside when the plane door was quickly pulled back as security and other officials from both sides shouted and pushed each other.
Akpabio underestimated his allies
Mr. Emmanuel, a Pricewaterhousecoopers-trained chartered accountant, had a flourishing career in the Nigerian banking sector and eventually became an executive director with Zenith Bank before being appointed by Governor Akpabio as Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government (SSG) in 2013.
He (Emmanuel) is relatively unknown in the country’s politics and is considered an outsider.
But Mr. Akpabio rejected all other political interests and went so far as to disparage SSG and his political allies, UmanUmanand others to help Mr. Emmanuel replace him as governor.
He ordered security operatives in July 2013 to seal off Mr. Umana’s office inside the Government House is an attempt to cut (Umana’s) 2015 governorship ambitions.
Other incidents and political intrigues at the time came after Mr. Akpabio presented Mr. Umana at different times to the public as his preferred successor.
Mr. Akpabio later said he could not support Mr. Umana because of the rotation of the governorship position among the three senatorial districts in the state.
The political journeys of Messrs. Umana and Akpabio have been quite intertwined. Mr. Umana, perhaps more than any other politician in Akwa Ibom, helped Akpabio become governor in 2007 when both were commissioners in Governor Victor Attah’s cabinet.
Mr. Umana later defected from PDP to APC in 2014 and ran for the 2015 Akwa Ibom governorship election as the APC candidate after Mr. Akpabio finally presented Mr. Emmanuel as his preferred successor.
Mr. Akpabio took his position as Senate minority leader and leave the PDP to join Mr. Umana and others in APC after he fell out with Governor Emmanuel.
President Buhari recently changed Mr. Akpabio with Mr. Umana as minister of Niger Delta Affairs after Mr. Akpabio resigned to contest the APC presidential primary (he eventually resigned for Bola Tinubu who won the primary).
Mrs. Akpabio’s role in Emmanuel’s election
Mr. Ikiddeh’s article has confirmed an open secret in Akwa Ibom – that it was Mrs. Akpabio who perhaps forced her husband to change his mind about Mr. Umana.
“Those of you who were in Uyo between 2014 and 2015 will remember that the Governorship of Udom was a personal project of the First Lady,” Mr Ikiddeh said.
“It was the First Lady who convinced the former Governor and assured him – that he is not afraid of Udom becoming the Governor of Akwa Ibom State,” he added.
Ikiddeh wrote about the closeness and “mother-daughter relationship” that has existed between Mrs. Akpabio and Mr. Emmanuel.
“Everyone knows that the former First Lady is a tried, tested and devout Catholic. She herself demanded a strong Christian to take over from her husband and when she was told that Udom (Emmanuel) was a Deacon, a born-again Christian, not drinking or doing women, Udom is numero uno.
Then, Mr. Ikiddeh wrote: “On the day Udom made a public declaration to run for Governor at the Uyo Township Stadium, the former First Lady brought him to the stadium, the Governor stayed back in the lodge, he stood by his side. on the rostrum that day with thousands of women from 31 local government area.
“In fact in July 2013 when Akpabio swore in Udom as SSG, he would wear a suit to the event. The Governor’s wife said no one wears a suit to such important events – there and a few hours into the event, he entered the box and gave a new red wrap to Udom. A wrap that you have never worn. The traditional dress you see in the photo (at Mr. Emmanuel’s swearing in as SSG) was given to Udom by the First Lady. This is what First Lady Udom is worth. She takes on a real role as a loving mother .”
This is the first time a former official of Mr. Akpabio’s administration will go public with the relationship between Akpabio’s wife and Governor Emmanuel.
It is not yet clear whether Mr. Akpabio, a former senator, is aware of Mr. Ikiddeh’s article.
“This is all Mr. Ikiddeh’s opinion,” Mr. Akpabio’s spokesman, Jackson Udom, said on Saturday when PREMIUM TIMES contacted him.
The article is coming at a time when Mr. Akpabio and his supporters are frustrated by the obstacles to their 2023 senatorial ambitions. They, baselessly, blamed Governor Emmanuel for the court’s decision canceled nominated former senator as APC candidate.
Mr. Ikiddeh, apart from being a former aide to Mr. Akpabio, is said to have been close friends with the former governor for several years.
When Mr. Akpabio lost his bid to return to the Senate (Akwa Ibom North-West) for a second term in 2019, Mr. Ikiddeh called from London to speak with the former senator about his defeat.
“He feels betrayed by the people he has nurtured for the past eight years. But he is not bowing down,” Mr Ikiddeh said.
‘Everything Akpabio wants from Gov Emmanuel’
Ikiddeh said that Mr. Akpabio, during the 2015 campaign, said that all he needed from Mr. Emmanuel when he (Emmanuel) became governor was “respect”.
“This is one thing I want to tell you – when I am a Senator and I come to Akwa Ibom State from Abuja to visit. Whether you send a car to pick me up or not does not matter to me. In some trips from Abuja, I can be hungry and may decide to come to the Governor’s lodge to eat,” Mr. Ikiddeh quoted Mr. Akpabio as saying to Mr. Emmanuel.
READ ALSO: Governor Emmanuel rejects ‘confrontation’ with Akpabio
“I don’t expect you to be there waiting for me—that would be too selfish of me. I don’t expect you to receive me personally. It’s not true, the Governor is a very busy man. But if someone could put my name at the gate and tell the guards that I’m on my way. I’m going to the governor’s lodge, because he will receive me all. Then I want him to prepare my favorite White Soup with mutton.
Ikiddeh said Mr. Emmanuel promised not to betray Mr. Akpabio’s trust.
“No one can do what you have done for me, and I cannot repay such a gesture with evil! I stand before you all to thank you,” Mr. Emmanuel told Mr. Akpabio.
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