By Thompson Essien
In Akwa Ibom State, reports say tertiary institutions are on strike due to non-payment of salaries to workers and other financially related dissatisfactions. A couple of weeks ago, leaders of Labor Unions issued ultimatum to the State that unless State workers are paid salaries owed to them in addition to the minimum wage of N18,000 a month, workers would have no alternative but to indulge on a strike. Akwa Ibom State, it appears, is swamped with financial woes. Anyone who hears this may think the State Government has plundered into a state of penury. But that is not the case. In fact, Akwa Ibom is now the richest State in Nigeria, followed by River State. So what is the problem?
The reason Akwa Ibom State is now in a state of pecuniary embarrassment is due to the way Godswill Akpabio is looting the treasury to pay-off people in the country—from the judiciary, the presidency, all the way to the legislative sector—in order to stay in power as a State Governor, a position in which he bamboozled his way through at the last gubernatorial election. Emerging reports say Akpabio is now crossing the party line to bribe his political opponents. In order to be granted the favor he is courting from his political opponents, Akpabio is said to be ready to entrust the treasury of Akwa Ibom State as a pledge to those he has contacted.
Sources have confirmed how Akpabio has been having secret meetings with national leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria, or ACN, including a meeting with ACN’s heavy weights, such as Tinubu, former governor Segun Osoba, and Chief Akande, who is the National Chairman of ACN. A source has confirmed that at Lagos and Abuja airports, several people witnessed how Akpabio prostrated before Akande, asking for his support. The question is what type of support is Akpabio seeking from the leaders of ACN?
Reliable sources have confirmed how they heard Akpabio told Akande; “I need your support. I will be a better boy than Akpan Udoedehe. Akpan Udoedehe is not a boy you can trust. He is a liar, who will betray you before you know it. Oga, I will pay you anything. I have money. Money, you know is not the problem. Help me withdraw the appeal in the Supreme Court. Oga, I will do everything for you. Akwa Ibom has money. I have money. Just tell me how you want me to pay you, if you want it in dollars, I will pay, if you want in Euro, I will pay. I beg, Oga, you don’t have to give me your answer now, but think about it.”
Reports have confirmed that after Chief Akande had his ears full of Akpabio, he calmly told him; “Governor, stand up. I have heard you. But I am sorry to tell you this; ACN is not for sale. Please forget the offer and let’s pretend that you never discussed the matter with me. But let me tell you one thing; ACN stands on the principle of justice and equity. Our party (ACN) will pursue the case in the Supreme Court. If the Court says that what was decided at the Tribunal in Uyo and at the Appeal Court in Calabar is what should stand as the law of the land, then ACN will have no choice but to obey the ruling of the highest court in the land. If on the other hand the Supreme Court rules otherwise, I also expect you to abide by, show respect for, and obey the law. That is all I can tell you now.”
Senator Akpan Udoedehe’s reaction
After I heard the story, I contacted Senator Akpan Udoedehe by telephone at his home in Abuja for its veracity. The following is his response;
“Yes, I have heard the story and even much more than what you are telling me. Let me begin by saying; shame on Godswill Akpabio!! I wonder why you doubt the story. You know that Akpabio is a bastard and the way he behaves is the way all bastards behave. You also know that all bastards are liars. Let me tell you why I say he is a bastard. All his brothers are fathered by four different men. What makes this strange is that all four men are from the same (Akpabio) family. For instance, Nsentip’s father is the same man who fathered Aniedi (Akpabio?), who is the General Manager of Akwa Ibom Property Development. Now, just imagine a man, whose mother was known to keep it “all in the family” talking about my father, who was a well-known business and political leader in his days. If I were Godswill Akpabio, and had the type of wayward mother he had, I never would dare say anything against the parents of others.”
“His bastardized sense of belonging is the reason he gives himself up to people and always refers to himself as a “boy.” Just imagine a whole State Governor, prostrating before another man and calling himself a “boy.” Of course he is a boy, and that is why he behaves, lies, and talk in a careless manner as he always does. I am a “man,” not a “boy.” Maybe that is why Chief Akande, Tinubu, Osoba, and others were quick to send him out of their faces. When he told them that he will be a better “boy” than Akpan Udoedehe, they probably said to themselves “oh, no, who wants to make a deal with a boy?”
“And let me tell you one other thing; Mr. Ben Bruce (of the N40 billion contract to build the Tropicana) told
President Jonathan that Akpabio said to him (Bruce) that Akpan Udoedehe is a devil who bathes himself every day with human blood using the male private parts as his shampoo. Just imagine that kind of lies! Well, only a bastard would lie that way. I am happy that all the prominent people in the country—people that he used to tell lies on me—have finally realized that Akpabio has a mental issue to deal with. People are now beginning to understand that the man is not only a pathological liar, but sick in the head”
“Regarding the story you heard as to whether Akpabio has been begging the leaders of ACN to rescue him and withdraw the appeal I and ACN filed against him at the Supreme Court, all I can tell you is yes, it is true; you can also quote me on this. He promised those gentlemen and others in similar positions, billions of naira if they would block the course of justice on his behalf. If those people were greedy enough to accept his offer, where do you think the money would come from? Of course, the money would be removed from the treasury of Akwa Ibom State. People are suffering and in abject poverty, no employment, starvation is everywhere, the State is in a state of stagnation, yet Akpabio is going from one end of the country to another, donating the money, which could be used in helping the people. Can you imagine that kind of insanity?”
