The 2015 Senatorial elections in Uyo Senatorial District has entered a new twist as Governor Akpabio has intensified plans to foist Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga on the people of the area against the wishes of the people in the senate race.
Otuekong Nkanga, a strong ally of Governor Akpabio may be seeking the senate ticket through the back door to emerge the candidate even as it seems clear that the incumbent senator representing AkwaIbom North East Ita Solomon Enang may have finally seen his re -election bid finally crumble after his people had earlier abandoned him and he was seen hobnobbing with the AkwaIbom State Governor at different public events including his recent trip to America where it was learnt that he desperately begged that he should be given a ticket back to the senate next year.
On Wednesday, after the PDP reconciliation meeting at Abuja which ended in a deadlock, Akpabio led a delegation of people from the state to pay homage to the leader of the South South Chief Edwin Clark and also presented Udom Emmanuel and Idongesit Nkanga as his governorship choice and senatorial district choice for Uyo respectively to the elder statesman.
Our reporter gathered that the elder statesman bluntly told the embattled governor that only God can decide who will be the next Governor of AkwaIbom State and that the people will make their respective choices for the different electoral offices emphasizing the need for a level playing field for all aspirants in the race to succeed him.
It has become obvious that Akpabio has finally dumped Ita Enang after he must have traded the siting of the Federal Polytechnic from Ibiono Ibom to Ukana in Essien Udim Local Government Area all in his selfish interest to seek a ticket for the Senate.
The recent emergence of Nkanga is a big setback for Ita Enang as the race has been blown wide open but what political watchers await at the moment is to see how strong these men are on ground or if they will depend on the governor to foist them on the people of Uyo senatorial District.
However, Nkanga has been described by political pundits across the state as a man who has no political structure as he has failed to carry his people along and does not hold any political weight in Nsit Ibom his home base talkless of his spread across the nine local government area of Uyo Senatorial District.
We recall that he made a bid to become Governor of AkwaIbom State sometime under the National Democratic Party (NDP) where he failed woefully having failed to mobilise his supporters as in his usual style abandoned them at the last minute negotiating his mandate and further jumped ship to the ruling party without duly notifying his supporters as at then .
The same Nkanga led a delegation of chieftains to Abuja in 2006 against the nomination of Governor Akpabio to see the then national chairman of the party Ahmadu Ali where he was captured on national television addressing the media in support of Obong Attah’s in-law, Udoma Ekarika.
As campaign manager for the re-election of Akpabio in 2011, he lost his local government area to the opposition party, the then Action Congress of Nigeria in the House of Representatives election for Etinan Federal Constituency which produced Hon. Dan Akpan as the votes from Nsit Ubium helped the ruling party secure victory.
He also failed to produce a council chairman in the present local government administration as his nominee failed woefully at the primaries held at the Uyo Stadium and his recent romance with the government has been duly rewarded as he will head the elections of the governor’s nominee Udom Emmanuel as campaign Director General.
Nkanga’s perceived entrance may be to spite the people of Uyo Senatorial District as he remains very unpopular without any political structure and has failed to empower his people over the years even as the people of Akwa Ibom North East are bracing up for the impending imposition in the senatorial district which they have described as laughable and unfortunate which will be roundly rejected as he must submit himself to the people and not enter a race through the back door.
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