Joe Effiong, Uyo
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has hit back at Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo over his comment that the mandate of APC candidates in the National Assembly elections was stolen in Akwa Ibom, describing the VP and APC as living in fool’s paradise.
APC lost all the 13 National Assembly seat in the state to the PDP and capped it up with losing the presidential election in the state.
Among those who woefully lost the senatorial election was the former governor of the state, Sen Godswill Akpabio, who only managed to win in two out of the 10 local government areas in his Ikot Ekpene senatorial district, and was consequently trounced by the former deputy governor of the state, Dr Chris Ekpenyong.
Osinbajo representing President Buhari, came to Uyo on Monday to ruing that it was not possible for Akpabio to have lost the senatorial election if his votes were stolen by the PDP in connivance with INEC.
But the PDP in a statement signed by Ini Ememobong, its Publicity Secretary in the state, said on Tuesday: “Since the conclusion of presidential and National Assembly elections and the subsequent announcement of the results, Senator Godswill Akpabio and the APC have been falling over themselves to concoct fairy tales to explain how and why they failed and like a bad workman, the tool is to blame.
“For them, every other person and institution deserves the blame, except them. Their blame pendulum swings from the PDP to the Resident Electoral Commissioner to the electorate etc. It is trite that the worst form of deceit is self-deceit, but for APC and Senator Akpabio, deceit of any kind is the modus operandi.
“The highest display of self-deceit was the circus created for the vice president to perform at Uyo. Unknown to the VP that his hosts, especially Senator Akpabio, are aspirants to the hall of fame of political comedy, he appeared on the stage and was cued to perform. He vomited exactly what he had been fed with. He exclaimed that their mandate had been stolen and that it would be reclaimed. While his immediate audience applauded him, the external audience was deeply disappointed at such illogical outburst from a person who ordinarily should be learned.
“For the records, Akwa Ibom people know who the mandate thieves are; they are those who refused to go on consultation and grassroots campaign but held rallies in towns and instead of telling the people what their plans were, proclaimed themselves god and touted their invincibility.
“They took the electorate for granted, preferring to deal with the big names only. On the day of the election, those who brought policemen and army personnel to aid in electoral malpractice are the real thieves. After the election and during collation, the real thieves are the people who went to Oruk Anam INEC office, Ikot Ekpene INEC office and Essien Udim INEC office. Those who invited the GOC and army to help in their attempt to thwart the announcement of Senatorial results for Ikot Ekpene senatorial district results are the thieves. Those who sought to bribe INEC staff with foreign currency are the real thieves.
“Even as we are preparing for the forthcoming elections, the APC have sought for help from Edo State, using Adams Oshiomhole as the liaison, to recruit armed political thugs ferried in 53 buses en route , led by Tony Kabaka and Osakpamwan, alias ‘no molest’. They have also mobilised touts to start peaceful protests that will snowball in violent unrest in Uyo, the state capital. They have also purchased and sneaked in weapons of different dimensions.
“That is their preoccupation instead of reaching out to the electorate. For them, election preparation is synonymous with war-readiness and nothing more pretentious.
“We are calling on the public, the international community and security agencies to discountenance the baseless cry of VP Osinbajo, Senator Akpabio, and the entire APC family; they are all living in fool’s paradise and completely unconnected with reality. Some trust in horses and chariots, but our trust is in the Lord,” the statement said.