The Udoedehe wolf tears

Agreed that Senator John James Akpanudoedehe was the leading personality in Akwa Ibom State chapter of the opposition All Progressives Congress before the entrance of Obong Umana Okon Umana. But today, the dynamics of politics have since seen Udoedehe running from pillar to post chasing his shadows and making some mischievous comments.

For the initiated and followers of the drama in APC, if you think that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu led Party will key into Udoedehe’s antics, then you must have a rethink. The noise Udoedehe is today making does not in a way help him in his resolve to outweight Umana as the standard bearer of the APC in Akwa Ibom state. Every right thinking person will agree that the issue of the man to fly the flag of the APC in Akwa Ibom state has since been settled and the noise being made by Udoedehe today will not help him.

The fact of the matter is that Senator Udoedehe as far as we can remember had been the one holding the APC and her members hostage. The last congresses of the party that led to the emergence of new leaders for the APC those who understand argue that Udoedehe was not fair to members. He did as it pleases him and pleased him as he did them. His members then could not speak up or challenge him as it were because he had made them believed that whatever he did had gotten the blessings of the National leadership in Lagos, Kano and in Abuja. Udoedehe for many years ruled the APC as his private enclave and appeared to have been the only cock to crow. The rest is history. As Sam Enwang and others in the party who felt Udoedehe’s panks.

Normally, the opposition party in Akwa Ibom state is naturally not known for controversies. And this is because sometimes, the media does not see anything worth news making to report about them or that maybe because the opposition must be encouraged to challenge the behemoth called PDP. But in recent times, the APC team has also had its fair share of collective struggles within its ranks and file. But this issue is not about the problems in the APC and how they will wriggle themselves out of it. It is about the lingering disturbance that John James Akpanudoedehe has been raising ever since he was defeated at the party primaries by Mr. Umana Okon Umana, a new man in the party.

Since then, the Uyo strong man of politics have been crying wolf all over the place, he has been casting aspersions on Umana with the little singular opportunity. Udoedehe have not spared to inform whoever cares to listen that Umana Umana came to the party he labored to build and impose himself as the new leader. He has been hitting hard at Umana that the former SSG remains a PDP man that did not only fight against the party in 2011 but still has the trappings of the ruling party in himself.

Senator Udoedeh has been making a lot of noise over his inability to defeat Umana at the primaries. Well, to an extent, this is understood but when rather than attack the issue Udo now feels to hit out at Umana as a person is the best, then it is unfortunate. But in any case, Udoedehe is to me suffering from the very disease he planted. If the APC is serious about winning the PDP in Akwa Ibom state, then the choice of Umana ahead of Udoedehe is perfect. Crying foul that Umana came to the APC and hijacked the party as Udoedehe is presently doing is sad. The action attempts to tell us that senator Udoedehe must have forgotten that he went to then ACN to hijack the party from the likes James Iniama, Steve Ibanga and others who also labored for the party to make it attractive for him to see the light it had. It is unthinkable that Udoedehe will out of failure attempt to call the winner of the election names of different kinds.

Let us look at it this way, the APC is not the corruption of ACN. It is rather a conglomeration of different political parties that decided to come together as one. So Udoedehe cannot holistically and should not claim that the APC is the adulterated ACN. The argument is too watery and low in logic. Again, when Udoedehe was received into the ACN as it were, it was with pomp and pageantry. When Umana was received into the APC, it was also with pomp and pageantry. So Udoedehe should have seen that the leaders of APC were more comfortable with Umana than with him. The former Uyo Senator had during the build up to the APC guber nomination boasted that he has the structure and that he will defeat Umana and his gang of PDP decampees. The whole world waited to see only for Udoedehe to storm the Uyo Sports stadium to act mischief. At that point conscious of the need to ensure that democracy is seen to prevail, the panel who came to conduct election put heads together with the leadership of the party in the state and then decided to call the National leadership of APC. We are told the party nodded for option A4 and Udoedehe was humbled. The question is Umana went to the APC with finesse, character and competence, factors Udoedehe never took to the party, members of the APC in the state saw the need to allow Umana emerge the flag bearer and they stood firm on their position. So rather than blame Umana for winning him, Udoedehe should blame his strategies and then look up to another available position if he must remain and officer elected to serve the people.

I feel sorry for the way and manner Udoedehe is going about casting aspersions on Umana, it is rather ridiculous and goes far to posit that indeed the PDP must have given him some large chunk of money to use in warring Umana. Truth is that the Akpabio led PDP in Akwa Ibom state is afraid if not properly checked, Umana will beat their man to emerge the Governor of the state. The PDP would have had a walk over if Udoedehe had emerged the flagbearer of the party. Let it be clear here that the candidature of Umana Umana is really unsettling the PDP and that is why they are too cautious in resolving the impasse associated with their choice of candidate and deputy. So for Udoedehe to go about making all manner of accusations against Umana is rather sickening. Comments like, that Umana has always been in government is un called for. Udoedehe also has always been in government. Besides what will the people of the state stand to benefit from an Udoedehe Government?

He was a senator and carved a niche for himself by betraying Attah then Governor simply because he wanted to be close to Obasanjo. Udoedehe happens to have been the first major beneficiary of Akpabio when the Governor nominated him for the position of minister during his first term. I learnt the position was meant for Umana but Udo with his gra-gra got it. That is not all; he failed to utilize that position to benefit Akwa Ibom people. What he did is that he was busy fighting his superior until the then President Yaradua of blessed memories got tired of him and threw him out. Rather than sit afar or near and be throwing stones capable of dragging Umana to the mud, methinks Udoedehe should rather accept the fact, the reality that he was defeated by a better man.