Failure to Accept Akpabio’s Wife as 2019 Running Mate Real Reason for His Defection

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Tuesday, August 7th, 2018

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Ahead of the planned defection of Senate minority leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio to the All Progressives Congress, APC, it has emerged that his decision may have been influenced by a serious standoff with his hand chosen successor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel over the 2019 governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Akpabio in 2014 positioned a retired civil servant, Pa Moses Ekpo, believed to have been in his seventies at that time as the running mate to Mr. Emmanuel.

Sources said one of the reasons he is defecting from the PDP to the APC is the alleged plan by Governor Emmanuel to get a younger deputy governor instead of Pa. Moses Ekpo.

However, it has also now emerged that one of the reasons for the crisis between the leader is the quest by Akpabio to have his wife, Nnemoa Ekaette Akpabio as the next deputy governor in the 2019 election if Governor Udom must replace Pa Moses Ekpo.

The pressure to put Mrs. Akpabio on the ticket in 2019 came after last December’s outburst by Akpabio when he said during an end of year outing in his constituency that “all was not well” with the party in the state.

That outburst it was learnt caused the former commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs Mr. Udo Ekpenyong to reply Akpabio.

Governor Emmanuel it was learnt was very unhappy with the decision of his commissioner to reply Akpabio, given his standing instruction that none of his aides should ever respond to any missive from Akpabio or a provocation from any of the former governor’s associates.

Governor Emmanuel as such immediately sacked Ekpenyong from the cabinet despite the fact that the commissioner was defending or protecting his (governor’s) interest.

“Governor Emmanuel sacked his commissioner despite the fact that he, commissioner was fighting for him because he knew of Akpabio’s plan to cause problems for our governor,” an associate of the governor said on Monday.

“It was following the sack of the commissioner that the issue of putting Mrs. Ekaette as a running mate for Governor Emmanuel came up, but the governor was firm in saying that it could not work.”

Governor Emmanuel was said to have given among others as reason, the fact that it could offend sensibilities given the fact that Mrs Nneoma Akpabio is not from the state even if her husband is from the same senatorial zone as the present deputy governor.