Some founding fathers of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State have accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of betraying them and the party, and allegedly working to weaken it in exchange for his third term ambition.
The party bigwigs said this in a letter they addressed to President Bola Tinubu, with a copy made available to newsmen in Uyo on Sunday.
They alleged that the Senate president was on a collision course with other prominent members of the APC to satisfy his whims and caprices.
Jointly signed by Elder Okokon James (Uyo Senatorial District), Peter Ibanga (Eket Senatorial District), and Chief Victor Affiah (Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District), the letter called for urgent intervention to prevent the party’s collapse in the state.
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Titled: “Worrisome State of APC in Akwa Ibom State: A Call for Your Urgent Intervention,” the letter read in part: “We, the founding fathers of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State, are compelled to write you this open letter.
“We have been with you since our days in the defunct Action Congress to the Action Congress of Nigeria, which later metamorphosed into our present party, the APC. We have never seen this kind of selfishness, greed, betrayal, and treachery before.”
The petitioners accused the state APC Chairman, Stephen Ntukekpo, and the Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, of executing a plan allegedly orchestrated by Akpabio to cripple the party.
The added: “The duo of the state Chairman of the party, Mr. Stephen Ntukekpo, and the Hon. Minister of Petroleum (Gas), Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, are telling whoever cares to listen that they were directed by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to cripple the party in the state to give the PDP an easy ride to victory in the 2027 polls in exchange for the PDP’s support for the Senate President’s third-term ambition.”
The letter further warned of “mass defections” and a weakened party structure ahead of the 2027 elections.
It said: “We want to assure Mr. President that he won’t have party members to receive him when he comes to the state next year to campaign if something urgent is not done to revive and strengthen the party in the state.
“The soul and spirit of the party in the state have been sold to the PDP government, and as a result, party members are gearing up to join the upcoming coalition of opposition to your second-term ambition.”
Dismissing speculations that Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State is planning to join the APC, the party stalwarts argued that while the governor is strengthening the Peoples Democratic Party, APC leaders in the state are undermining their own.
They said: “It is unbelievable that the party that produced a Senate President is completely dead in the state. Since he (Akpabio) joined APC, he has never been committed to your second-term ambition.”
However in a swift reaction, the Special Assistant on Media to the Senate President, Jackson Udom, dismissed the allegations as “beer parlour rumours”.
Udom said: “How much has he sold the party?
“APC is still very strong in Akwa Ibom State.
“What they want is for PDP and APC, which is under the leadership of the Senate President, to be fighting.
“Politics is beyond all that.
“Because of harmony, peace, and unity between Akpabio and Governor Umo Eno, they are alleging that APC has been sold out.
“They should wait for campaigns to start.
“This is beer parlour allegations.”
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