Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The re-election bid of Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State has received a major boost as the South-South governors have thrown their weight behind him.
The governors declared that the federal might the All Progressives Congress (APC) is banking on would fail in the governorship election.
Chairman of the governors of the South- South, Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, of Bayelsa State who gave the assurance at the flag off of the Governor Udom’s campaign for a second term in office, in Uyo, on Wednesday, said all the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors are solidly behind Udom.
A statement by the Special Adviser to Governor Dickson on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, quoted him as having said that all the governors would have been present, in Uyo, for the crucial event but for the fact that some of them were also involved in campaigns in their respective states.
He said that the South-South governors were all backing the re-election bid of Udom because of his record of performance as a good product of the PDP.
The governor advised the people of Akwa Ibom to be resolute in the bid to ensure continuity and consolidation of productive governance in the state through Udom’s re-election.
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He stressed that as a governor who battled and overcame the federal might in his re-election bid in Bayelsa in 2015, he was aware that second term elections were fraught with betrayals which shouldn’t discourage the people.
The Governor who said that those who rely on federal might as their strongest credential to win election would fail in Akwa Ibom just like they did in 2015 in Bayelsa when the people of Bayelsa stood their ground and defeated it in his re-election which was not different from a war in 2015.
He said, “You have a good product, a good man in Gov Udom Emmanuel. As someone who has gone though a second term elections, there is nothing strange that you have seen. It is during second term elections that you see friends becoming enemies; this is when you see the people you have helped turning their back on you. But you must realise the fact that second time elections are an opportunity for consolidation. I went through a tough battle and because of your support, we had the opportunity of consolidating good governance, and that is what you need in Akwa Ibom. Bayelsa won election against the Federal might, if we could do it in Bayelsa, you too can do it in Akwa Ibom. With this massive crowd that I have seen and the unprecedented support there, I will go back and tell them that Akwa Ibom is sure.”