The purported adoption of Mr. Udom Gabriel Emmanuel by Chief Nduese Essien and a few others on Tuesday at Eket Stadium as sole candidate for the 2015 gubernatorial race in Akwa Ibom State has further exacerbated the already mangled political situation of Eket Federal Constituency and the Senatorial District at large.
Mr. Udom Emmanuel, present secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government (SSG) was on Tuesday October 14, 2014 given a reception at Eket Stadium but the event became a campaign ground which culminated into a mockery adoption of the celebrant by Chief Nduese Essien, chairman of the event.
Major stakeholders and some Chieftains of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in Eket Federal Constituency have kicked against the action of Nduese Essien, describing it as a betrayal of trust, selfishness and on act of imposition against the tenets of democracy.
“Nduese Essien is the Chairman, Eket Senatorial District Elders Forum, a position that goes with trust and confidence. He is suppose to be father to all governorship aspirants from the district, for him to stand in the open and declare Udom as a preferred choice of the people of Eket Federal Constituency is a betrayal of trust for pecuniary reasons”, said Obong Inieke Akpe, Chairman Ward 4 Urban Elders Forum.
“Essien as a Political Father and Elder Statesman should have carried all aspirant along and allow the people make their choice which is the most democratic thing to do than for him to attempt to shut out other aspirants from the area, we reject any form of imposition and it will never work”, Obong Akpe said.
Another aggrieved person, a youth leader from Esit Eket, Prince John Samuel Effiong said “the so called endorsement of Udom Emmanuel is not a consensus agreement of the people of Eket Federal Constituency but an arrangement organized by a socio-political group, the Akwa Ibom Consolidated Alliance (ACA)”.
He called on the youths of the State to resist any attempt to impose Udom Emmanuel on the State as Governor Come 2015.
“The desperation at which Udom’s campaign is being prosecuted by a certain cabal shows that the soul of the State is in trouble with a bleak future. PDP should allow the people make a choice of who should govern them and not the other way round, power belongs to the people but God gives the final say”, Prince Effiong said.
A political chieftain from Onna Local Government Area who craved strict anonymity said Mr. Udom Emmanuel as a person is qualified to contest the 2015 gubernatorial race in the State, but that he is being used by Governor Akpabio as a political pawn, a situation which will not augur well for the State, adding that the chess game will eventually collapse with the SSG ending as a used and spent commodity.
Also reacting, a former Vice Chairman of Eket Local Government Area, Chief Ekanem Willie, harped on the need for Elders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to play the needed fatherly role toward 2015, averring that Chief Nduese Essien could not have endorsed Udom on behalf of Eket Federal Constituency when all major stakeholders were not consulted for consent.
He described the purported endorsement as a veil attempt to intimidate and cowers people to see Udom as the choice of the people when in reality the action has further polarized the people against the interest of the district.
Indication that Udom’s reception will be marred by controversy emerged on Saturday October 11, 2014 during a grand reception organized for Chief Nduese Essien at Eket stadium.
As early as 7am on that day Udom’s posters which had been pasted on the wall around the stadium where seen in shreds scattered all over the ground, indicating that he was not the people’s choice.
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