Crisis in A’Ibom State APC: Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio is Innocent, Prof Ekanem Replies Critics

Etok Ekanem

The Crisis In The Akwa Ibom State All Progressives Congress Before The 2023 General Elections: Preserving The Facts On The Roles Of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, Senator John Akpan Udoedeghe And Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio  From Intentional Distortion

1. I am a committed member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the largest Political Party in Africa and the ruling Party of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I joined the Party in 2014, as it was forming and evolving. By the Party’s record of activities, I have been very actively present and involved in the affairs of the APC in my political Ward, Local Government Area (LGA) and State, namely, East Itam 4, Ward 6, Itu LGA and Akwa Ibom, respectively. Like many other fellow Party men and women in the State, I have, overall, also had the opportunity of some modest levels of visibility and action in the Party outside Akwa Ibom State. Taken with my earlier period of engagement with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since the turn of the Century in the year 2000, led to the privilege I had to serve the Akwa Ibom State Government as a member of the State Executive Council and Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources through the goodwill and trust of the then Governor of the State, His Excellency, Dr GodswillObotAkpabio, now Senator and President of the Nigerian Senate, I have clearly, had a fairly long stint on the political arena and a good running knowledge of the public space in the State and indeed, Nigeria at large.
2. For quite some time now, I have not found it necessary to make major public statements or comments on regular political issues, whether such issues specifically touch Akwa Ibom State or the Nigerian general. A number of ardent observers have indeed, made comments to me regarding my public quiet. I have very carefully and thoughtfully considered the issues in the subject matter of this write–up before reaching the decision to document my thoughts and views on the matter, based on the clear facts of the same. Pure facts are well-known to every member of the APC in Akwa Ibom State and other politically conscious persons in and outside the State.
3. As a matter of fact, the three gentlemen – Senator Abdullahi Adamu (as a former National Chairman of the APC), Senator John AkpanUdoedeghe(as a former National Secretary of the APC Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee)and Senator GodswillAkpabio (as a former member of the Federal Executive Council and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs) – all played major roles in the affairs of the Party, leading to the 2023 general elections. My reflections are that the facts and truth of their respective roles must be preserved, and not allowed to suffer any form of distortion, as some current politically motivated attempts appear to set out to do. The facts must be preserved, not necessarily at all, for the apportionment of blame to any person or group of persons whatsoever, but to keep and safeguard them and the truth, as fundamentals and tools for the desired rebuilding and strengthening of the Party in Akwa Ibom State for the great tasks ahead. Obviously, there were some mistakes and errors of judgement by one of our leaders. We must all learn from those errors and mistakes of the past and use the experience and lessons to review our conduct for the betterment of our society

1. The Crux of the Matter

Primarily, this write-up is prompted and provoked by some very recent media write-ups (over the last few weeks) by my amiable young friend, Mr Solomon Johnny, Editor of Global Concord Newspaper (a local tabloid in Akwa Ibom State) and the current Publicity Secretary of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the State on the subject matter, the caption of my writing. Mr Solomon Johnny held the same position in a faction of the Akwa Ibom StateWorking Committee of the APC before he decamped to the NNPP with Senator John AkpanUdoedegheshortly before the 2023 general elections in Nigeria. In several recent related publications (print and social media) Mr Johnny has made on the crisis in the Akwa Ibom State APC before the said elections, he has consistently and persistently made the following allegations concerning the crisis:

Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio is Innocent

• That Senator GodswillAkpabio manipulated and used Senator Abdullahi Adamu, as National Chairman of the APC, “to destroy the Party in Akwa Ibom State”, and in the process, denied Senator John Udoedeghe the governorship ticket of the State for the 2023 elections, and that this eventually forced Senator Udoedeghe to leave the APC for the ticket of NNPP in the election. This is totally misleading. And interestingly, throughout his writings, Mr Solomon Johnny, the NNPP State Publicity Secretary, has said absolutely nothing concerning the roles Senator John AkpanUdoedeghe played in the crisis, in his position as the National Secretary of the Party at the time.
• That Senator GodswillAkpabio is personally responsible for the current travails and eventual “forced resignation” of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as National Chairman of the APC, allegedly, using the powers of his current position as President of the Senate. This, according to Mr Solomon Johnny, is coming after Senator Akpabio had purportedly used him (the former National Chairman) to destroy the APC in Akwa Ibom State and stop Senator Udoedeghe from picking the 2023 Governorship ticket of the Party.

1. Before I dwell on the facts of this matter, particularly regarding Mr Solomon Johnny’s allegation in 4.1 above and the dangerous implications (for Akwa Ibom State and her people) of his unfounded statement regarding the reason for the recent resignation of Senator Abdullahi Adamu in 4.2 above, let me take a moment to very briefly describe the state of my association and relationship with each of the three very senior fellow countrymen Mr Johnny has centred his write-ups on, and whom I have consequently mentioned in my caption.

• Senator John Akpan Udoedeghe – I and Senator Udoedeghe have had some good association and relationship for a little over a decade now. We have had a couple of mutual exchanges of kind political gestures, but not without a few instances of minor, but principled disagreements. In terms of capacity and courage to speak out frankly on public issues, I share some common traits with him. Overall, I see and take Senator John Udoedeghe as a friend and brother. I do not exactly know how he personally sees and takes me, though. For sure, Mr Solomon Johnny, who is generally known to be a very loyal and long-standing associate of Senator John Udoedeghe, is fairly familiar with the level and content of my association and relationship with the Senator, his principal and coreman.
• Senator Godswill ObotA kpabio – As indicated a short while ago, I served the Akwa Ibom State Government as a member of the State Executive Council and Honourable Commissioner under the outstanding leadership of Dr GodswillAkpabio as the then Governor of the State. Until he graciously appointed me into the Cabinet, Dr Akpabio had never met me personally and physically, our first such interaction being at the inauguration of that Executive Council on August 6, 2007. Considering the way it came, the appointment was clearly a demonstration of the Governor’s goodwill. In the Executive Council, he spared no opportunity to express his confidence and appreciation for our modest contributions to deliberations and efforts in initiating and driving Government policy and development programmes in the agricultural sector. As our boss, his sterling goal-getter qualities provided great impetus and motivation for the service we were called to render to the State. Sitting as the President of the Senate and leader of our Party, the APC, in AkwaIbomState today, I hold Senator Akpabio in very high esteem, with absolute confidence in his high capacity to serve Nigeria creditably and markedly impact Akwa Ibom State, considering his well-known antecedents and performance indicators.
• Senator Abdullahi Adamu – I do not know Senator Adamu closely and have never met him personally. The closest occasions I ever got to him were during his general interactions with Delegates at Eagle Square, Abuja, during the May, 2022 APC elective National Convention that brought him to power as National Chairman, and at a similar gathering of the Party a few weeks laterat the same venue for the Special National Convention that produced Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Presidential Candidate of the APC in the 2023 general elections. All I have known about Senator Abdullahi Adamu as a former Governor of Nassawara State, Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and National Chairman of the APC, are based on media reports.

1. NOW, THE FACTS –

In a nutshell, the following are the facts of the subject matter of this write-up, the pre-2023 election crisis in Akwa Ibom State APC, as they are very  generally and widely known:

• The Role of Senator John Akpan Udoedeghe
• By an act f divine providence, this great son of Akwa Ibom State, Senator John AkpanUdoedegehe was, in June 2020, appointed the National Secretary of the APC Caretaker Committee which had His Excellency, Mai Mala Buni, the incumbent Governor of Yobe State, a highly refined personality and principled gentleman with whom I had earlier shared opportunity to serve on the Governing Council of the University of Uyoseveral years ago, as National Chairman. All members and supporters of the Party in Akwa Ibom State were very happy and excited over the appointment of Senator Udoedeghe, this is a privileged opportunity in the history of Party politics in Nigeria, for an Akwa Ibom indigene to be selected for such a high National Office. Expectations were generally very high that the State would gain bountifully from the privilege, particularly, in view of the setbacks the Party suffered in the State in the 2019 general elections.
• Senator John Udoedeghe started well and used the position to get an unprecedented number of Party men and women in Akwa Ibom State engaged in National assignments of the Party across the country.
• Considering the great need to urgently reposition and strengthen the Party from her weak position in 2019, a number of prominent Party men and women (acting on the initiative of Archbishop Samuel Akpan, an astute political mobilizer), promptly came together, and in early 2021, formally constituted themselves into a Party Working Group they called Akwa Ibom All Progressives Congress Coalition (AAC)which, as it were at the time, was justifiably codenamed, Akwa Ibom APC Defence System. Given its aims and objectives, which were very well–intentioned and laudable, the AAC (which had her Founder, a former member of the State Executive Council and Special Adviser to Governor GodswillAkpabioon Political and Legislative Affairs, the above–named Archbishop Samuel Akpanas President)grew in leaps and bounds and quickly metamorphosed into a very large system. AAC had a quick presence in virtually all the 329 political Wards of the State.

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• Having so quickly grown and tremendously expanded, AAC shortly, invited Senator John AkpanUdoedeghe, as National Secretary of the Party and formally informed him, in good faith, of the decision and offer of the Organization to assist the Party as one of the core grassroots instruments for her (the State APC) revival and rejuvenation. The National Secretary accepted the offer and was subsequently appointed and inaugurated as the National Grand Patron of AAC. The Party men and women who came together to form the AAC and offer to work with the National Secretary did not do so, because he (Senator John Udoedghe) had consulted them, but acted on their volition, simply because they felt that they had amoral duty to assist their brother, the National Secretary, in the process of reworking the Party in his State.
• Following all in 6.1.4 above, Senator John Udoedeghe subsequently informed the AAC that he wanted the Organization to work in collaboration with his old and existing support team in the State, known as John AkpanUdoedghe Support Group. In the belief that such collaboration would facilitate and quicken the desired and intended reorganization and strengthening of the Party, AAC gladly accepted and embraced the proposal of the National Secretary.
• Right after this, AAC and the John AkpanUdoedghe Support Group began to work together. The collaborative work between the two bodies was, however, not smooth and long, as indications soon emerged, that the Support Group strongly preferred to work alone and be solely and fully in charge of the expected new direction of the Party in Akwa Ibom State, as far as the aspiration of Senator Udoedeghe, National Secretary, to be the Governor of the State was concerned. This tendency for sole and total control of affairs ran through the membership of the John AkpanUdoedeghe Support Group in virtually all the LGAs where the Support Group existed, even with Elders and very senior leaders of the Party in such LGAs prominently present in AAC.
• The attitudes and modus operandi of members of the John Udoedgehe Support Group in advancing their position indicated in 6.1.6 above clearly suggested that they had the understanding, tacit support and agreement of Senator John AkpanUdoedeghe, the National Secretary, for their posture and actions. In their judgements and self-evaluation, the membership of the Support Group had mistakenly been given (and allowed to take) the impression that they were “the only real supporters” of Senator Udoedegehe, and the only persons in the Party with the capacity to give the Senator a win in the 2023 State Governorship election.

• In the course of time, another open-minded Group within the Party, the Akwa Ibom Progressives Liberation Movement (APLM), headed by Rt Hon. Emmanuel Ukoette, a former Member of the House of Representatives, joined and cordially worked with the AAC in the propagation of great ideas for the unity of purpose and advancement of the Party in the State.
• In a short while afterwards, and particularly, as discussions and preparations for the 2021 elective Ward, LGA and State Congresses of the Party began, it became fully clear to all and sundry in the AAC and APLM, that Senator John AkpanUdoedeghe, the National Secretary of the Party, had given full support and indeed, clear instructions to the Udoedeghe Support Group to take the position they had taken. Firm indications were given by the leadership of the Support Group, in no mistaken terms, that the National Secretary wanted only Party men and women in the Support Group to make the lists of persons to be constituted into the Executive Committees of the 329 Wards, 31 LGAs and the State Working Committee of the APC in Akwa Ibom State. Given this impetus and hope, the State leadership of the Support Group doubled efforts in getting the Group formed in LGAs where she previously lacked presence.
• As the schedule of the congresses closed in, the National Secretary, Senator Udoedgehe, in all his words and actions, and again, in no mistaken terms, personally and clearly indicated to the AAC, that he wanted only members of the Support Group (as solely determined by him through the leadership of the Group) to be in the Party Executive Committees. Naturally, of course, disagreements and objections to the plans of the National Secretary arose and grew within the Party, with the exception of a couple of persons who had some vested and very narrow personal interests in the unhelpful and disintegrating plans of the National Secretary.
• All efforts by Elders of te Party, including very senior and experienced former Party leaders like Chief OtuIta Toyo and Dr AmaduAttai( former Party State Chairmen), to persuade the National Secretary to moderate his position on the matter yielded no results, as Senator Udoedgehe maintained his position and insisted on having the entire APC structure in Akwa Ibom State under his sole and total control.
• All the suggestions for wider consultations with all the relevant leaders and Elders of the Party, including the then sitting Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and former Governor of the State, Senator GodswillAkpabio, were stoutly and persistently rejected by Senator John Udoedeghe, who insisted that he was not prepared to share his powers and opportunity in the constitution of the Party structure in the State as National Secretary with any other person.     Yet, we have it on good record that the 2018 State Working Committee of the Party, which had our late brother, Mr IniOkopido as State Chairman and our other brother, Mr Austin Ekanem as State Secretary, emerged through such very peaceful, cordial and amicable high-level consultations and consensus involving leaders of the Party,includingAtuekong Don Etiebiet (former Minister),  Obong NsimaEkere (former Deputy Governor), Senator John AkpanUdoedgehe himself (former Minster), Obong UmanaUmana (former SSG and 2015  Governorship Candidate ) and Senator Ita Solomon Enang (Special Adviser to the President)who hosted the final consultative/State Working Committee selection meeting in his Uyo residence. In that arrangement, it was Senator John Udoedeghewho named Mr Austin Ekanemfor the position of State Secretary of the Party. The consensus arrangement was embraced and the outcome(including Senator Udoedeghe’s choice for the position of State Secretary, even against the preference of the other leaders ) was accepted by all.

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• Eventually, Senator John Udoedeghe, the National Secretary, succeeded in unilaterally setting up and constituting factional APC Executive Committees across virtually all the 329 Wards and 31 LGAs, as well as the State Working Committee, with members of his Support Group exclusively. Not even the domains of the then sitting Minister and former Governor of the State, Senator GodswillAkpabio and the sitting Special Adviser to the President, Senator ItaEnang (who was also seeking nomination for the 2023 Governorship ticket) were spared, as Senator Akpabio’s Ward and his EssienUdim LGA and Senator Enang’s Ward and his IbionoIbom LGA were taken and Party Executive Committees constituted and imposed, to the total exclusion of these respective men in National positions of authority. Who would have accepted, folded his hands and tolerated this? In politics? Are these men, not humans? Were we not regularly and sharply told in meetings by the few persons with a vested and personal interest in Senator Udoedghe’s plans to “forget that matter”, each time we raised the need for dialogue on Party issues touching the interest of Senator GodswillAkpabio, as a former Governor of the State and sitting Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?
• Was Senator GodswillAkpabio to blame for the array of Party Elders and leaders in the State who massively withdrew their earlier support for Senator John AkpanUdoedgehe’s Governorship aspiration because of the unthinkable way and manner they were maligned, slighted, embarrassed and ridiculed in the process of selecting persons in their own communities and domains for Party Executive Committee positions in their Wards, their LGAs and the State, a process in which they ought ( and deserved) to have been recognised and accorded due respect.  Was Senator Udoedeghe (as National Secretary) not personally responsible for this massive withdrawal of support for his aspiration, because of the way he chose to handle APC affairs in the State, as if the Party was his own personal and private organization?

• Despite his well-known political dexterity, which he very aptly and strenuously applied to mobilize and sustain support for Senator John Udoedeghe, did Archbishop Samuel Akpan, the Founder and President of AAC, not finally jettison and abandon the Organization and decamp to the PDP (with a few AAC leaders who agreed to exit the APC with him), when he could no longer bear and cope with the unhelpful direction of Senator Udoedghe? From the way and manner he carried on, SenatorJohn Udoedeghehad obviously, totally taken for granted the great array of Party men and women who had, on their own volitions, gathered and sacrificed to assist him. Was Senator GodswillAkpabio responsible for this attitude of the National Secretary and the other events that eventually pushed Archbishop Samuel Akpan into the action he took?
• The Role of Senator Godswill Akpabio
  • As the events in sections 6.1.1 – 6.1.15 above began and progressed in the State Chapter of his Party while he sat in Office as a Minister and member of the Federal Executive Council, Senator GodswillAkpabio, naturally and necessarily, rolled out plans and deployed his political prowess to evolve strategies to protect his political interest and save himself from any possible political embarrassment. Was the game, not politics? Is Senator Akpabio not a master of the game, with very wide acceptability and strong followership in Akwa Ibom State based on his public service antecedents?
• Ultimately, the Honourable Minister, Senator GodswillAkpabio, formed an elaborate political Group, the Akwa Ibom Democratic Forum (ADF), which had Rt Hon. EkperikpeEkpo (now, Honourable Minister-designate) as Director-General, as his own political vehicle for countering what Senator John Udoedeghe was doing in the Party. Is there anything wrong that Senator Akpabio took this necessary political action to preserve himself and his political integrity and image?

• What the development in 6.2.2 above meant, was that effectively, two major camps had emerged in the Akwa Ibom State Chapter of the APC –  one, the John AkpanUdoedgehe Support Group Camp, loyal to the National Secretary, Senator John  Udoedgehe, and the second, the ADF, loyal to the Honourable Minister, Senator GodswillAkpabio. Expectedly, two parallel factional Executive Committees emerged along the two respective Camps in the 329 Wards, 31 LGAs and the State level of the Party from the 2021 Congresses. At the State level, Mr Austin Ekanem(from Uyo Senatorial District) was elected State Chairman of the John Udoedgehe Support Group faction State, while Mr Stephen Ntukekpo (from Eket Senatorial District)emerged as State Chairman of the ADF faction.The 2023 Governorship ticket of the State having been officially zoned to Uyo Senatorial District by the Party(without any bone of contention from any of the other two Senatorial Districts), was it not a knotty issue of concern in equity and fair play (a dimension that further deepened the crisis) that both Mr Austin Ekanem (the Udoedeghe Support Group factional Chairman) and Senator John Udoedeghe (who sought to be Governor on the ticket of the same Party) hail from the same (Uyo) Senatorial District.
• What brought the Party to this depth of division and confusion? Was it not Senator John Udoedeghe’s uncompromising stance on his desire for sole control of the Party, especially his insistence on his fellow son of Uyo Senatorial District, Mr Austin Ekanem (the State Coordinator of the John Udoedeghe Support Group and, at the time, the State Secretary of the Party) as the new State Chairman, despite all entreaties and wise counsel to allow the position of State Chairman go to any of the other two Senatorial Districts for the reason of equity and fair play? What was the fault or contribution of Senator GodswillAkpabio and/or Senator AbdullahiAdamuto in this misaction of Senator Udoedeghe over the choice of State Chairman, a dimension that seriously complicated issues for the Party? To the avoidance of any confusion or doubt regarding my motive here, let me indicate that in terms of nativity, I am, like Senator John Udoedeghe,Mr Austin Ekanem( and indeed, Mr SolomonJohnny), also of Uyo Senatorial District extraction, a matter of fact, from the same Federal Constituency with Mr Austin Ekanem.

6.3 Further Role of Senator GodswillAkpabio and Facts Touching Efforts at Reconciliation

It is on record that quite a number of efforts were made at various levels of the APC to cause and achieve reconciliation and consensus in the Akwa Ibom State Chapter of the Party during the crisis. Some of these efforts were put in place at the national level of the Party in Abuja at the instance of Senator GodswillAkpabio (as Honourable Minster) and Senator ItaEnang (as Special Adviser to the President), in their strong desires to see peace reign in their State Chapter of the Party. Let me briefly highlight a few of those efforts/meetings, specifically the ones in which I was personally involved:

6.3.1. The Peace and Reconciliation Committee Chaired by Rt Hon. IdrisWase, the Immediate-past Deputy Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives – Dr Ita Udosen, then, the Acting State Chairman of the Party, led us (a 19-member high-powered State delegation, including Senator ItaEnang) to a meeting with the Committee in Abuja in June, 2021. Discussions were frank and the Committee made recommendations to the National Secretariat of the Party for peace through dialogue and consensus between the factions in the State APC. This recommendation of the Committee for peacebuilding was not implemented, because the National Secretary, Senator John Udoedgehe, was totally averse to a consensus or any such thing that would make him unable to achieve his desired goal of the total and exclusive grip of the Party structure in Akwa Ibom State in the on-coming elective Congresses. This failure to implement the recommendation for dialogue and consensus, which sustained and prolonged the division and crisis in the Party, was not caused by Senator GodswillAkpabio and/or Senator Abdullahi Adamu, but by Senator John Udoedeghe, the National Secretary himself.

6.3.2 The Peace and Reconciliation Committee Chaired by Senator Abdullahi Adamu– Before his emergence as National Chairman of the Party in May 2022, Senator Adamuhad has been saddled with the responsibility of heading a Peace and Reconciliation Committee set up by the National leadership of the Party at the time to deal with the crisis in Akwa Ibom State. The Committee met with relevant stakeholders and interest groups in the State Chapter of the Party in January 2022, in Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Calabar, Cross River State.  Presentations were made to the Committee by all the divergent interest groups, including the AAC, the ADF and the Bridge Builders, led by Chief OtuIta Toyo, a former State Chair of a political Party and Dr EffiongEtok (alias Charles Taylor), former State Secretary of the APC.  We are aware that, like the Rt Hon. IdrisWase Committee in 6.3.1 above, the AbdullahiAdamu Committee made recommendations for reconciliation and consensus for equitable sharing of Party positions among the factions in the State APC.   As in 6.3.1 above (regarding the treatment of the Report of the IdrisWase Committee), the recommendation of the AbdullahiAdamu Committee for dialogue and consensus was suppressed by the National Secretary, Senator John Udoedgehe, for exactly the same reason – his belief that he should singularly have total and complete grip and control of the entire Party structure in Akwa Ibom State, to the exclusion of every other Party member. This position of Senator Udoedeghe, which sustained and deepened the crisis within the Party in the State, was not caused by Senator GodswillAkpabio and/or Senator Abdullahi Adamu, but by the National Secretary, Senator John Udoedeghe himself.

6.3.3   Back in the State, in the course of the crisis in the Party, the AAC set up a high-powered 5-man Peace and Reconciliation Committee to consider and make recommendations for reconciliation of aggrieved members of the Organization, many of whom had left for the reason of the actions and direction of Senator John Udoedeghe. The Committee had Dr Emmanuel Akpanobong (former member of the State House of Assembly) as Chairman, Barr EdetEyoBassey (former State Publicity Secretary of the Party) as Secretary, with Dr AmaduAtai (former State Chairman of the Party), Rt Hon. UwemUdoma (former Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly) and yours truly, Prof EtokEkanem (former member of the State Executive Council) as members.

Guided by the worrisome state of affairs and division in the Party, the Committee, following full and dispassionate consideration and rationalization of all relevant issues, made very well-considered recommendations for dialogue and reconciliation, not only with aggrieved persons in the AAC but equally importantly, with the Honourable Minister (Senator GodswillAkpabio) and the other parallel Party structure, the ADF. For daring to include dialogue and reconciliation with Senator GodswillAkpabio and the ADF in the recommendations, the Committee’s Report was rejected and discarded by forces in the AAC that were in firm support of the obviously ill-conceived, ill-considered and unachievable ambition and plan of Senator Udoedgehe, the National Secretary, to gain total and exclusive personal control of the Party across the State, all by himself and for his political interest alone. The loss of this further opportunity for dialogue, reconciliation and peace in the Party was again, not caused by Senator GodswillAkpabio and/or SeantorAbdullahiAdamu, the National Chairman, but by a couple of self-centred supporters of  Senator John Udoedgehe, acting his script.

6.3.4  Still on efforts at reconciliation and peace in the Party, we can all vividly recall that on the scheduled date for the Akwa Ibom State APC Elective Congress in October 2021 at Sheer Grace Arena, NsikakEduok Avenue, Uyo, Senator GodswillAkpabio, as Minister, personally reported at the venue of the meeting. We recall that in his address to the State Congress, Senator Akpabio made a passionate appeal for the Party to unite and move together in one direction to achieve her set objectives in the 2023 general elections. For emphasis, he made a very interesting illustration with his own hands, demonstrating that nobody can clap, except his two hands are engaged to work together. This plea by the Honourable Minister was ignored. Just as similar pleas by a couple of other Chieftains of the Party, including Group Captain Sam Ewang (rtd), a former member of the APC Board of Trustees and Senator ItaEnang, a sitting Special Adviser to the President.

6.3.5  In all this, was Senator Akpabio seeking the State APC Governorship ticket, or was he even projecting any other person at the time, for the ticket that Senator Udoedeghe was bent on securing?

7. The Role of Senator Abdullahi Adamu in the Crisis

7.1     In the entire narration of the facts of the crisis in the Akwa Ibom State Chapter of the APC throughout the tenure of Senator John AkpanUdoedghe as National Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, it is not clear what can rightly and justifiably, be placed and pointed to as a direct fault of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as National Chairman of the Party. As a matter of fact, the prevailing crisis in the State APC, which began right from the inauguration of Senator Udoedghe as National Secretary in June 2020, had already deeply divided the Party for about two full years before Senator Adamu was elected National Chairman in May 2022. Rather than being the cause of the crisis of the APC in Akwa Ibom State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu had, as the Chairman of the  January 2022 Peace and Reconciliation Committee of the Party ( section 6.3.2), long before he took Office as National Chairman, been one of the key players in the processes of seeking a solution to the crisis. As earlier indicated, the crisis in the Party deepened and prolonged till his emergence as National Chairman, largely because the Report of the Senator Adamu -led Committee, which contained a recommendation for dialogue and consensus in the Akwa Ibom State APC, was not allowed to see the light of day by the National Secretary of the Caretaker Committee, Senator John Udoedghe.

7.2     We know of course, that the rejection and suppression of the dialogue and peace initiatives recommended in that Report (and other similar efforts) by the National Secretary, subsequently, naturally and understandably, complicated issues and further deepened the crisis. As earlier indicated, we know as a fact, that Senator Udoedgehe’s preference, insistence and final choice of a  State Party Chairman from Uyo Senatorial District from which he hails, expectedly became a sore point for him and the Party in the State.

7.3 It is important to place on record that it was not only Senator GodswillAkpabio that objected to the unhelpful approach and course of actions of Senator Udoedgehe, contrary to the misleading impression all the write-ups published by Mr Solomon Johnny, the State Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, appear to create.  Virtually all other leaders and Elders of the Party across the State, including the likes of Chief ItaAwak (former Director-General of a Federal Government Aviation Agency), Prince Perry Ntuk (former Aid to the Governor on Political Affairs) and the others earlier mentioned – Group Captain Sam Ewang, Senator ItaEnang, Chief OtuIta Toyo, Dr EffiongEtok, Dr Emmanuel Akpanobong and Prof EtokEkanem, amongst a host of others (with their followers and loyalists in their respective spheres of influence), spoke out on the matter and made suggestions touching the need for dialogue. All such suggestions and inputs were ignored by the National Secretary, Senator Udoedgeheand his core men.

1. 4 Ultimately, Senator John Udoedgehe left the APC for the NNPP Governorship ticket, with virtually all the persons (in the John Udoedeghe Support Group) he had placed as Ward, Local Government and State Executive Committee members of the APC, with the only visible exception of the factional State Chairman, our brother, Mr Austin Ekanem.  From all that happened, Senator John Udoedghe left the APC for the NNPP, not because Senator GodswillAkpabio used Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the then National Chairman of the APC, to cause a crisis in the State Chapter of the Party. He left because he was eventually engulfed and overwhelmed by the crisis he himself created and fuelled in the APC due to his unfortunate misconception, misperception and overestimation of his powers as National Secretary, a typology of a common (but avoidable) human behaviour and conduct regarding the use of political power.
2. 5 The consistent allegations against Senator Abdullahi Adamu and Senator GodswillAkpabio over the crisis in the Akwa Ibom State APC by Mr Solomon Johnny in his numerous write-ups over the last few weeks are obviously, spurious and totally lack basis. The distortions Mr Solomon Johnny is trying to place are deliberate and intentional, and must not be allowed to stick and solidify in the overall interest of the APC and Akwa Ibom State at large. Having left the APC with Senator John AkpanUdoedghe for the NNPP to which he is now, the State Publicity Secretary, we do not understand Mr Solomon Johnny’s desire and objective in his persistent unprovoked attacks on the two top APC leaders and very senior citizens of Nigeria. Given the great watch-dog roles opposition political Parties generally play in the development of society, shouldn’t the NNPP Publicity Secretary rather concentrate on productive efforts to build the new opposition Party in the PDP –controlled Akwa Ibom State? Shouldn’t he leave the sister opposition APC alone to grapple with ways of resolving the avoidable crisis the former National Secretary, our brother, Senator John AkpanUdoedghe unfortunately, created and left behind?

1. My Other Major Concern and Cause of Disquiet

8.1 The Significance of Senator GodswillAkapbio’s Position

8.1.1  As President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and, in hierarchy, the third citizen of Nigeria, Senator GodswillAkpabio, by God’s special Grace, today, occupies a very high and strategic position in the current Government of our country. Akwa Ibom State is most fortunate to have her own son rise to that position, the very first such opportunity for the State in the entire political history of Nigeria. Most expectedly, the State and her people should draw commensurate gains and benefits from the elevation of Senator Akpabio to his present position and status in Nigeria. Considering his antecedents, we know for certain, that Senator GodswillAkpabio will perform creditably as President of the Nigerian Senate and appropriately engage for Akwa Ibom State in the National scheme of things.

8.1.2  Nothing should emanate from his own State, under any political guise whatsoever, to distract Senator Akpabio and consequently diminish and short-change the State and her people, whether now, or in the future. As her symbol of great National pride, all of Akwa Ibom State should be seen to be practically in support of the son, Senator GodswillAkpabio as President of the Senate and third citizen of the over 250 million Nigerians, according to current estimates. This is exactly why I am personally very elated over the action of the PDP Governor of Akwa Ibom State, His Excellency, Pastor UmoBasseyEno, in visiting Senator GodswillAkpabio in Abuja, with his Deputy and some other officials of his Government, to congratulate the Senator on his election and inauguration as President of the Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly, on June 10, 2023.

8.1.3Like earlier indicated, our main cause of disquiet and reason for this write-up is the need to ensure that the facts of the issues which led to the crisis in the Akwa Ibom State Chapter of the APC are not distorted, as all the recent writings of Mr Solomon Johnny, the State NNPP Publicity Secretary on the matter, are wilfully targeted to do. Clearly, for some ill-motivated political consideration. We need these facts (as they truly are) for the highly desired rebuilding and strengthening of our Party. Beyond this, however, I have another equally important concern, with perhaps, a more critical potential negative implication for Akwa Ibom State and her people in general. This has to do with the issue raised by Mr Solomon Johnny over the recent resignation of Senator Abdullahi Adamu as the National Chairman of the APC.

• In the Matter of Senator AbdullahiAdamu’s Recent Vacation of Office as National Chairman of the APC

8.2.1  In his various recent writings earlier referred to, Mr Solomon Johnny, a son of AkwaIbom State and the State Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, has consistently and persistently accused Senator GodswillAkpabio, another son of AkwaIbom State, of being behind the recent travails and eventual “forced resignation”  of Senator AbdullahiAdamu (a Nigerian man from Nassawara State in North Central Nigeria)  as National Chairman of the APC, using the powers of his position as President of the Senate. The high point of Mr Solomon Johnny’s accusations against Senator GodswillAkpabiois what he wrote and published on July 15, 2023, that “He (Senator Akpabio) met President Tinubu and reminded him that Adamu never supported his ambition and may likely not be loyal to the President because he queries the leadership of the Senate he constituted”. This, to me, is a very unguarded and callous insinuation, coming from a man who is in the process of beginning a career in the legal profession. Was Mr Solomon Johnny present at the meeting/discussion he purports Senator Akpabio had with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Senator Abdullahi Adamu? Or, is it President Tinubu that subsequently informed him about the meeting and what Senator Akpabiotold him (Mr President) about Senator Abdullahi Adamu?

8.2.2  Having variously alleged that Senator GodswillAkpabio used Senator Abdullahi Adamu, as National Chairman, to “destroy the Party in Akwa Ibom State” so as to stop Senator John Udoedeghe from picking the 2023 Governorship ticket ( as in Section 4 of this write-up), Mr Solomon Johnny has gone further to make attempts to impugn the character and degrade the person of Senator Abdullahi Adamu. He has variously described Senator Adamu as an “unscrupulous” man, who is now consumed by his “criminalities”, all because, according to him, Senator Akpabio used him to destroy the APC in Akwa Ibom State to stop Senator Udoedeghe. Again, a very unguarded selection and deployment of words. Criminalities? Coming from a Lawyer?    Which Court of Law convicted Senator Abdullahi Adamu of the criminal acts Mr Solomon Johnny is labelling him with? Properly trained Lawyers and responsible members of society do no talk and use words this way. Knowing Senator John Udoedeghe as I know him, I can say, for certain, that he could not have approved the use of these kinds of reckless and totally unacceptable expressions on a very senior citizen of Senator AbdullahiAdamu’s age and status, even as Mr Solomon Johnny’s outbursts apparently appear to set out to defend the political interest of Senator Udoedeghe.

8.2.3  The point I thought I should make in all this, is that Senator Abdullahi Adamu, as a former Governor of a Nigerian State, a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a former National Chairman of the Nation’s ruling Party, the APC, is political, a very visible citizen of Nigeria. Like all of us, he hails from a community – his, in Nassawara State, North Central Nigeria.  In addition to his own people and kinsmen (a dominant Nigerian tribe), Senator Adamu, for sure, has friends, political associates, acquaintances and supporters in various parts of our country. There are persons in the public and national arena who hold him in very high esteem and would go all out, to help him, support him and defend him in any circumstance. Persons with irrational mindsets may even go to the extent of revenging other persons (or groups of persons) they perceive as their enemies, even without the knowledge, and instigation of Senator Adamu, their main man and principal. For persons with this kind of frame of mind, the general interpretation of the insinuation and unfounded allegation of Mr Solomon Johnny that Senator GodswillAkpabio (an Akwa Ibom son and man), was responsible for the loss of Office of Senator Abdullahi Adamu (their own son, man, friend and associate) as National Chairman of the APC, and that Akwa Ibom people had hit their own point man. After all, out there, Akwa Ibom people are generally seen as Senator GodswillAkpabio’s brother and of course, very rightly so.

8.2.4  Let AkwaIbom State (or any  AkwaIbom son or daughter) not suffer any form of deliberate deprivation, loss or victimization in the National arena –whether in politics, business and economic opportunities, education, employment, in the professions and vocations or in anything else (now or in the future),  on account of this wild seed of discord being sowed by Mr Solomon Johnny through his unfounded, false and insensitive allegation against their brother, Senator GodswillAkpabio, currently occupying the high office of President of the Senate.  We bother and raise this concern because these things commonly happen. As a young Nigerian boy then, seeking an opportunity for University education in 1980 in one of the 13 Universities in Nigeria at the time, I personally suffered such deliberate deprivation of admission, because of what the lady in charge bluntly and insensitively told me, at my young age (after inquiring for my State of origin), my “brother” did to her uncle. Only God knows who that brother of mine, most probably someone from the old Cross River State ( beforeAkwaIbom State was carved out in 1987) was. Frustrating and saddening as that bitter incident was, it turned out for good though, as the experience became part of what solidified the foundation for my lifetime and career-long radical engagements against victimization of any kind and the crusade (and advocacy) for social justice and fair play.

1. Summary and Conclusions

9.1 This whole matter (the crisis in the Akwa Ibom State APC) was about the game of interests, called politics. In pursuit of his desire to pick the State APC Governorship ticket for the 2023 general elections, Senator John AkpanUdoedegehe obviously misconstrued and overrated his powers as the National Secretary of the Party’s Caretaker Committee. This made him to mistakenly conceive the idea and set out plans to gain and retain total personal control of the APC structure across the entire State, Ward to Ward, LGA to LGA, up to the State Working Committee. (He did not need to have a hundred per cent control of the Party’s structure to win the ticket, though). There is absolutely no way everybody in the Party would have shut up, folded their arms and watched Senator Udoedeghe ride rough on them the way and manner he attempted to do. Most particularly, given his responsibility as a sitting Minister of the country at the time, and considering his political interest also, nobody would have expected Senator GodswillAkpabio (a former Governor of the State) to sit down, watch and allow Senator John Udoedeghe do what he set out to do with the APC in the State and take the Party structure, even down to his (Senator Akpabio’s) own Ward in Ukana, EssienUdim LGA.

9.2 In the situation, in which Senator John Udoedeghe, as National Secretary, rejected all recommendations and overtures for dialogue, reconciliation and consensus, Senator GodswillAkpabio naturally, needed to take some actions to preserve himself, his political interest and integrity and, for all of us, protect the Party from the impending public ridicule of appearing to be in the pocket of just one Party man, Senator Udoedghe, the National Secretary.  In the circumstance of the uncompromising posture and position of Senator Udoedeghe, the action Senator GodswillAkpabio took – the encouragement of the emergence of a parallel Party structure in the State –was EXACTLY what he (Senator Akpabio) ought to have done, in fact, as a duty to the Party and the State.  As in all political struggles, the side with the needed prowess, in this case, Senator GodswillAkpabio, had the upper hand.

9.3     Senator Abdullahi Adamu took Office as National Chairman of the APC in May 2022, about two years after Senator John Udoedghe had been appointed National Secretary. The crisis in the Akwa Ibom State APC had started and advanced long before Senator Adamu came on board as National Chairman. As earlier indicated, Senator Abdullahi Adamu was, as a matter of fact, involved as the Lead of a peace-seeking effort in the crisis, several months before his emergence as National Chairman. Considering the full facts of the matter, neither Senator Abdullahi Adamu nor Senator GodswillAkpabio was, justifiably, responsible for the genesis of the crisis in the Akwa Ibom State APC. Rather, the crisis emanated from the intransigence and uncompromising take-all attitude and position of Senator John Udoedeghe, the National Secretary.

9.4     As National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu served the Party to the best of his human abilities, endowments and capacity. His recent resignation from Office was his personal decision, which has been respectively, duly accepted and ratified by the Party’s National Working Committee and National Executive Committee, leading to the selection and inauguration of His Excellency, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, former Governor of Kano State, as the new National Chairman. Senator Adamu’s resignation could not have been caused by Senator GodswillAkpabio, as insinuated by Mr Solomon Johnny for some narrow political reasons and considerations.

9.5     Having long left the APC to join the NNPP with Senator John AkpanUdoedeghe, it is our view that Mr Solomon Johnny should concentrate on his current assignment as the Akwa Ibom State Publicity Secretary of his new Party, and leave the APC alone to sort herself out of the needless and avoidable crisis the former National Secretary threw her into before his entitled and respected the decision to leave for the NNPP. As opposition political Parties in Akwa Ibom State, both the NNPP and APC need to properly position themselves to responsibly undertake the principal function and duty of holding the PDP – controlled State Government accountable to the people through constructive criticisms of public policies and programmes. Being the respective leaders of the APC and NNPP in the State,  SenatorGodswillAkpabio and SenatorJohnUdoedeghe must be allowed to concentrate on the enormous tasks and responsibilities of stabilizing and growing these political Parties into functional and effective opposition entities in the State. These gentlemen must not be unnecessarily distracted.  Our brother, Mr Solomon Johnny and indeed, all of us, must be guided accordingly, please. Let us allow sleeping dogs lie, because negatively reminding ourselves of the regrettable past (which is now history) amounts to crying over spilt milk and can only evoke memories of some distasteful experiences that we better let go of. For our   Party, the APC, I respectfully enjoinSenator GodswillAkpabio (as the leader), to urgently step up action on the highly desired reinvigoration of the Party, as ardentParty men and women across the Akwa Ibom State, are earnestly looking up to him.

9.6     Again, my name is Professor EtokEkanem. I issue and endorse this short statement, out of a burden and sense of some deep moral obligation and duty I owe our society. I do not mean or intend to hurt anyone.