I will win PDP primaries - Umana Umana * Akpabio is insincere and absurd on zoning

Assuming that the ruling party does not give you the ticket, what will be your next option?
I will do my best to win in the ruling Party believing that the delegates will support me to be the flag bearer of our party the PDP. So I will be contesting to win and I believe that with the consultations going on, I already have massive support from all over the state. I am looking forward to my victory at the primaries so the issue of plan B does not arise, I do not have a plan B.

What is your opinion on zoning?
I want to agree with the gentleman who said that the Governor Godswill Akpabio himself in the past had dismissed zoning. He did that on National Television when the Minister of Information Labaran Maku when he held the Town hall meeting in Uyo during the Good Governance tour. When the question was put to him about zoning, Governor Akpabio said he was not a product of zoning; that in 2006 there were about 58 contestants from all the senatorial districts. Then, the party did not bar anybody so there were aspirants from all the three senatorial districts.

That was in 2006. Again in 2011, we had Frank Okon from Eket Senatorial District; we had Imo Udo from Uyo Senatorial District. I think Frank Okon is still in court; still contesting and some of his supporters are still very optimistic that he would be declared governor by the court. So if he is declared governor, for example are you still going to talk about zoning? So it shows the level of insincerity and absurdity and the fact that until I left office, the issue of zoning did not arise. Again you ask what a curious coincidence that the whole zoning idea came up only after I left office. Why? It is for you to find out. Beyond that, we have been told that there is no equity and justice because Eket has not produced a governor; Uyo had had it through Obong Victor Attah that Ikot Ekpene is there now having produced this governor and so for equity and justice it should be the turn of Eket senatorial district.

That is one side of the argument. But there are others who have also argued that Eket Senatorial District had governors in the past in the old Cross River state, Esuene was there for 9 years and Isong who was elected, served for 4 years. Nobody from the Uyo zone was governor at that time.So if you want a holistic equity and justice, are you going to turn back the hands of the clock to compensate the people of Uyo senatorial district who had no governors at that time. It is also instructive that the current managing director of NDDC is from Eket Federal constituency. So where is justice and equity?

What is your opinion on the town hall meetings and the outcome?
It seems to me that the pre determined outcome of the town hall meetings was to pick somebody from Eket Federal Constituency as the favoured candidate for the 2015 Governorship race. The meetings were stage managed to ensure that the position of governor was zoned to one particular person and yet we went through the pains and the expenditure of the town hall meetings, whereas the outcome was already pre-determined. When the notice for the town hall meetings was issued the reason given by the Commissioner for Information was that the governor will have the opportunity to present his score card and also listen to the people. There was nowhere in the advertorial published by the ministry of information preceding the town hall meeting where it was stated that there was going to be a referendum on zoning or on the selection of a governor for the state before the primaries and general elections.

There was no such thing. But in the end it was clear that the town hall meetings were held to promote the interest of a particular aspirant from a particular federal constituency; and also to promote the senatorial ambition of the governor. The outcome of the town hall meetings was an attempt to subvert the Constitution and the will of the good people of Akwa Ibom Stae. The country was shocked to hear sycophants chanting the mantra that the Governor should exclusively produce his successor because he had done well. They forget that Govenor Akpabio was elected to govern the state and not to produce a successor. There will be no need for the primaries and elections if Governor Akpabio has already appointed his successor. 

These sycophants have embarrassed us greatly and they have brought the office of the Governor into disrepute because Governor Akpabio swore to uphold the Constitution.   Even some of the salient issues that should have been addressed at the town hall meetings were not addressed. For example, nobody provided answers to some questions like how much revenue has accrued to the state. Nobody provided answers. Even when some people alleged that Akwa Ibom has received over two trillion Naira and that the performance of government was not commensurate with the level of resources, the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Information has still not provided a detailed revenue and expenditure report whereas transparency is a core requirement of good governance. We expected them the following day to publish everything to say this is what we have received so far; from statutory allocation, derivation, special releases from the excess crude accounts from the Paris Club reconciliations, from all the recoveries from under-payments, reimbursements and recoveries after the return of oil wells, then they would tell us in total, this was what we received. 

This is not asking for too much of any government because transparency is part of good governance. But until the town hall meetings ended, there was no such report. All we were told was that all the people who asked such questions were unpatriotic or sponsored. Or that they used fictitious addresses and fictitious names. For performance to be properly assessed, it must be benchmarked against the quantum of resources. The Hon Minister of Finance Ngozi Iweala made the same point recently. I was the commissioner for Finance during the administration of Obong Victor Attah and we had quarterly publications on the revenue and expenditure profile of the state. And it was for public consumption; you could walk into the ministry and pick it up.  Until the town hall meetings ended they were not able to provide the information. Even as we speak, they have not provided the information. There was also a question on the debt profile of the state but have we had any answer? These are the issues that ought to have been addressed during the town hall meetings, because they go to the roots of good governance. It is not late. As ordinary citizens, we have a right to know what has come in and how it was spent.

We have a right to know how much they spent on personnel cost, how much they spent on pensions, how much they spent on capital projects, sundry donations and so on. It is our right to know. So to call all those people who ask such questions unpatriotic was not fair. We saw the communiqué after the town hall meetings. It was an exercise in double speaks because they said that the governorship has been zoned but aspirants from other senatorial districts can still contest, in other words, no zoning.
The National Chairman himself has consistently maintained that the race should be open and that there will be a level playing field. That also answers the questions on whether I have the confidence that the party can provide a level playing ground for all aspirants. We are consoled by the statements of the National Chairman of the party that the primaries will be free; that the party will chose the most popular candidate. So we have full confidence in the National leadership of our party because the national chairman speaks for the party. After the drama of the town hall meetings, we heard from some government officials that the people of Akwa Ibom state have spoken. Then we also had another stakeholders’ meeting by the real people of Akwa Ibom state. I hope you watched it on AIT.

At that meeting, nobody was stopped, nobody was barred. Everybody had the opportunity to air his views. For example, Chief Okwong, who spoke on behalf of the Oron Federal Constituency made a case for an Oro governorship in 2015. Those who spoke on behalf of Uyo senatorial district said because we had a tradition that the race should be open, let it be open. Everybody presented the position of their people and they all disagreed to agree. That was the kind of thing we expected.

But the government town hall meetings, people went there with tele-guided positions and if they suspected that you would say something different, you will not be invited. Still on zoning, they say that those who go to equity must go with clean hands. The issue of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District you could see that throughout the town hall meetings, even when they visited Abak federal constituency, nobody raised the issue of zoning for that particular area that has not produced a Senator. It was all stage managed. The good people of Akwa Ibom state have seen through all of these deceptions. All we are asking for is that there should be a level playing ground for Akwa people to decide. When Governor Attah was there, he allowed a level playing field for all aspirants. I can recall that Chief Godswill Akpabio served as commissioner under Attah and resigned voluntarily to contest the governorship primaries.

He resigned the same day as Dr Udoma Ekarika. Akpabio was not supported by the then Governor, but he was not victimized. Even after he left office through resignation, he still had his police escort and he was still protected by the Governor. The governor did not say I withdraw your police details because you are not my candidate. He was not called ‘Absolom’. Governor Attah did not say he will die. He was allowed to relate with his colleagues, other commissioners and even his colleagues were allowed to choose who they want to support. That was how it was. Nobody was harassed; nobody was intimidated or threatened. Above all nobody was killed. There were no campaigns in churches. We cannot recall one example of Governor Victor Attah going to churches to harass and threaten the people of Akwa Ibom state and to warn them that his preferred candidate must become governor no matter whose ox is gored and regardless of the choice of the people.

Our plea is that we should go back to those glorious days when we had peace in Akwa Ibom and when every aspirant could move and consult freely. As an aspirant, Chief Godswill Akpabio was able to go everywhere. He consulted everybody; he consulted Akwa ESOP Ima-Isong Ibibio, he consulted Ibibio Elders Forum, he consulted Ifim Ibom Ibibio, he went everywhere. None of those leaders received a call from Gov. Attah, warning them and asking them why they received the governor’s enemy. We are not asking for too much. All we are asking for is that every aspirant should be given an equal opportunity and then let the people decide. Let the aspirants engage the people of Akwa Ibom state and the would be delegates and ask for their support. That is the way it should be.  The governor should not be in the picture at all because the governor should be a father to all.

But when the governor is coming out very strongly and he is campaigning in churches for a particular aspirant he would be bringing himself out and what would happen? In politics, the aspirants would attack each other to gain grounds.  If the governor presents himself or his subordinates present him as the aspirant, the other aspirants might make the mistake of also attacking the governor, thinking that he is an aspirant. We don’t want that to happen to the exalted office of the Governor. So, the governor should stay out and allow the aspirants to slug it out. The Governor who is no longer an aspirant in the governorship race should stay out. He is not the one to lead campaigns to churches. My advice is that the governor should steer clear and there should be a level playing ground. He should be able to allow other aspirants to consult him the same way he was able to consult Gov. Attah.

It was said that you were offered the position of NDDC Managing Director as a soft-landing and you rejected it. Where you offered the position of NDDC MD?
I have also read all kinds of stories about NDDC job. You cannot reject something that is not there. That is the truth. Unless there is a concrete offer, then you can say you rejected it. You only have an offer when your name goes to the senate. Was my name submitted to the senate for the position of NDDC MD? If my name was never sent to the senate, then there was no offer. So, I couldn’t have rejected something that wasn’t there. That’s the truth. But again, this is academic. It is neither here nor there. I could have had my own private position, but I am not at liberty to tell you that because whether I would have taken the job or I would have rejected it, that is personal to me. But you know when they want to rubbish you, they tell all kinds of stories.

There is also the allegation that the pension fund meant to settle pension payments was diverted during your tenure as SSG, how true is this?

The first one is on pensions. I understand there are stories making the rounds that the funds meant for pensions were diverted by me when I was in office. Again that is absolutely false because, to begin with, pension administration is not under the office of the SSG. The way pension is structured at the federal level is the same way it is structured in the state. Pension matters fall under the office of the Head of the Civil Service. It has nothing to do with the SSG’s office. So, if you have any questions or allegations about pension funds, please submit them to the appropriate quarters, which is the office of the Head of Civil Service.

Until I left office as SSG, I did not deal with any correspondence concerning pensions. None came to my office, and rightly so. I had nothing to do with pensions and I don’t know who is spreading the rumors and falsehood.

The other one had to do with the issue of minimum wage. The rumour being that I was against the interest of the civil servants during the negotiations for minimum wage. This also had nothing to do with my office. We have statutory offices that deal with such issues. Those offices include the office of the Head of Civil Service, the Bureau of Establishment, the Budget office, the ministry of Finance, and the Bureau of labour. Those are the offices that make up the team for the negotiations. It had nothing to do with me, either personally or with my office. But when the team concludes her work, they submit their report to the office of the governor, who would then take a decision on the matter. That is the way it works. So when you hear some of these stories, you just have to dismiss them because they really make no sense.