Joe Effiong, Uyo
Following their very woeful outing in the presidential and National Assembly elections, some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State have begun frantic efforts to woo the electorate to vote for their candidates in the coming governorship and House of Assembly elections.
They have even appealed to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to be reasonable and allow APC candidates to win so that the state could be linked with the central government.
The party lost all the 10 House of Reps and three senatorial seats as well as the presidential election in the state.
But the Special Assistant to President Mahammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, has said that APC is the only political party that can rescue Akwa Ibom State from what he calls “political bondage.”
Enang told journalists in Uyo that the future of the state should be put into consideration first so as to achieve success during the March 9, 2019 elections.
He appealed to Akwa Ibom citizens to vote for all APC candidates in the remaining two elections to align with the government at the centre as the state could not continue to be a minority state.
“I urge people of the All Progressives Congress and all voters in Akwa Ibom State not to relent but to maintain, sustain and keep up the spirit and the faith that they have in the APC and in our gubernatorial candidate, Obong Nsima Ekere, and his running mate and all the candidates of the party for the House of Assembly election in the different state constituencies.
“I want to say that the road is actually and better pointed by the election of the president and vice president as the Federal government is controlled by the APC and that should strengthen them and strengthen all the voters in Akwa Ibom State to the keep the faith with APC and keep the faith with the destiny of Akwa Ibom State.
“Our destiny and what we want is to make sure we get connected with the Federal government by electing APC candidates that will be working directly with the APC Federal government.
“It would have been different if the presidential election was conducted last and we were conducting the state elections first. We could have said that we don’t know where the center goes. Now, I am sure we all admit that every state that is an APC state has an appropriate link and appropriate relationship at the central level.
“We should not as Akwa Ibom people think that we should continue in sin so that grace may abound; it would not always be the same.
“Now that the Federal government is being controlled by APC and we have seen all that has been happening to us in the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari despite that the state is maintained by the PDP, they have been inviting us and trying to bring us in, making us part of the APC federal and state basket; that is why we have been getting even what we may not in ordinary situation be thinking of getting.
“I want us in the spirit of unity, to come out and stand out so that we win as an APC state government and have a proper link with the Federal government.
“I want to call on the People’s Democratic Party that it is time for them to reason that Akwa Ibom state ought to be rescued from the prison they have kept this state. What is important at this stage is not the PDP but the future of Akwa Ibom State.
“I use this opportunity to thank our people for maintaining a very high spirit despite what they went through last Saturday. Their spirit has been high; their morale has also been high; even when they faced the phase of disappointment, they were not disappointed or depressed.
“We want to say, keep the spirit high, come out and vote; we will protect your votes. The official security, another instrument of the state, another instrument within us will protect you and defend your votes and make sure your votes will count to make Nsima Ekere the governor of Akwa Ibom state come May 9 and upon the declaration of result. Your vote will produce members of the House of Assembly that will work with the incoming governor of the All Progressives Congress,” Enang stated.