TheNewsGuru

Tag: Akwa Ibom STate

  • PDP denies suspending Akwa-Ibom Governorship Candidate

    PDP denies suspending Akwa-Ibom Governorship Candidate

    The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has distanced itself from the purported letter of suspension of its Governorship Candidate in Akwa Ibom, Pastor Umo Eno.

    The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Debo Ologunagba, on Saturday in Abuja, said that Eno remained the party’s candidate in the March election.

    ”The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP has been drawn to a fake letter purported to have been signed by Ologunagba and mischievously claiming that our Governorship Candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Eno has been suspended from the Party.

    ”The PDP states in clear terms that Eno remains the governorship candidate of the party in Akwa Ibom State for the 2023 general elections.

    “He is not suspended from the Party; the NWC has no contemplation in that regard and there are no issues whatsoever to warrant such,” he said.

    Ologunagba said that contrary to the claims in the fake letter, the NWC did not at any time hold any emergency meeting on any matter related to Eno.

    Ologunagba added he did not at any time issue any letter to Eno on any matter whatsoever.

    ”Moreover, there is no issue of violation of rules around our Governorship Candidate in Akwa Ibom State either at the ward, state or national level to warrant any meeting of the NWC or any organ of our party at any level on him in that regard.

    ”The PDP therefore in very strong terms condemns the said fake letter which is clearly the handiwork of enemies of our party whose aim is to cause disaffection and disunity in our Party in Akwa Ibom State,” he stated.

    Ologunagba urged Nigerians, particularly PDP teeming members and supporters in Akwa Ibom, to disregard the said fake letter as Eno was never suspended from the party.

    He said that the party’s NWC had already started investigation into those behind the malicious letter.

    He also stated that the NWC would take firm legal and punitive actions against any individual found culpable in accordance with the law as well as the Constitution of the PDP.

  • Analysis: Between Gov. Wike’s half-truth and FG’s 13% derivation refund to states

    Analysis: Between Gov. Wike’s half-truth and FG’s 13% derivation refund to states

    The payment of 13 per cent oil derivation fund to nine states has thrown up controversies and set some state governors at loggerheads.

    The derivation fund is a monthly sum guaranteed under section 162, sub-section two of the Nigerian Constitution for oil-producing states, to them tackle environmental pollution and degradation, provide basic amenities and infrastructure and ensure economic prosperity for communities.

    Host governments are, therefore, expected to utilize these funds to ensure economic diversification, human capacity, and infrastructural development, provision of social services, as well as preserve the environment from the negative impacts of oil exploration.

    Governor of Rivers State Nyesom Wike, caused a stir about a week ago when he claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari had paid the arrears of 13 per cent derivation fund owed since 1999 to all the Niger Delta States.

    He attributed the success of various completed and ongoing projects in the state such as a Renal Centre, Cancer and Cardiovascular centre, Basic and Clinical Sciences faculty, House officers’ quarters, and flyover bridges to the release of these funds by the Federal Government.

    Other Niger-Delta states which allegedly benefitted from this refund are: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Ondo, Imo and Cross River states, making stakeholders from the region raise questions about the utilisation funds by the other state governors.

    However, some states in the region have refuted Wike’s comments, saying that only received a fraction of what was due them and pointing that a court judgement mandating the Federal Government to release payment of the withheld funds, had allowed for the payment to be spread in equal installments over a period of five years.

    While Delta State claimed that it had only received the sum of N14.7 billion, Edo and Akwa-Ibom States said they got N2.1 billion and N186 billion respectively, paid in three quarterly installments.

    The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in Akwa Ibom State absolved the state government of any wrongdoing in the handling of its share of 13 per cent derivation arrears paid to oil-producing states since 2021.

    Chairman of the organisation Franklin Isong, told a press conference in Uyo on Sunday that the tension being generated by the issue was uncalled for as the state government had already captured expected arrears in successive budgets since 2021.

    “CLO notes that the 13 per cent Derivation Fund arrears refunded to the State by the Federal Government was captured in the 2022 Appropriation Law of Akwa Ibom State and in the 2022 approved revised Appropriation Law of Akwa Ibom State,” Isong said.

    Also wading into the controversy, the Presidency has released details of oil derivation refunds made to Niger Delta states, revealing that the nine oil-producing states received a total of N625.43 billion 13 per cent oil derivation, subsidy and SURE-P refunds from the Federation Account between 2021 and 2022.

    Citing figures from the Accountant General of the Federation’s office, a statement by presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu, on Friday said the refunds were monies that should have been paid as 13 per cent derivation when the federal government made deductions from the Excess Crude Account over years.

    Similar payments were outstanding when NNPC made deductions from oil revenue without paying out 13 per cent derivation to the states.

    He said although the benefitting states had received a total of N625.43 billion, there was still an outstanding balance of N860.59 billion windfall from the refunds which the Federal Government was yet to pay.

    “President Buhari considers it a matter of honour and decency that debts owed to states or anyone for that matter be repaid, and in time without regards to their partisan political affiliations.

    The President will continue to render equal service to all the states of the federation and an acknowledgment of this by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and the others is not out of place,” the statement added.

    According to the figures, under the 13 per cent derivation fund on withdrawal from ECA without deducting derivation from 2004 to 2019, Abia State received N4.8 billion with outstanding sum of N2.8 billion, Akwa-Ibom received N128 billion with outstanding sum of N77 billion, Bayelsa with N92.2bn, leaving an outstanding of N55 billion.

    Cross River got a refund N1.3 billion with a balance N792 million, Delta State received N110 billion, leaving a balance of N66.2 billion, Edo State received N11.3billion, with a balance of N6.8billion, Imo State, N5.5 billion, with an outstanding sum of N3.3 billion, Ondo State, N19.4 billion with an outstanding sum of N11.7bn while Rivers State was paid 103.6 billion, with an outstanding balance of N62.3 billion.

    The States were paid in eight instalments between October 2, 2021 and January 11, 2022, while the ninth to twelfth instalments are still outstanding.

    On the 13 per cent derivation fund on deductions made by NNPC without payment of derivation, the nine oil producing States were paid in three instalments this year, with the remaining 17 instalments outstanding.

    Under this category, Abia State received N1.1 billion, Akwa-Ibom, N15 billion, Bayelsa, N11.6 billion, Cross River, N432 million, Delta State, N14.8 billion, Edo State, N2.2 billion, Imo State, N2.9, billion, Ondo State, N3.7 billion, and Rivers State, N12.8 billion.

    Meanwhile, the benefitting States shared N9.2billion in three instalments in April, August and November 2022 as refunds on the 13 per cent derivation exchange rate differential on withdrawal from the ECA.

    The three largest benefitting States were Akwa Ibom (N1.6billion), Delta State (N1.4billion) and Rivers State (N1.32billion).

    Similarly, all the nine states received N4.7 billion each, totalling N42.34 billion as refunds on withdrawals for subsidy and SURE-P from 2009 to 2015. The refund, which is for all the states and local government councils, was paid on 10th November, 2022.

    The Federation Account also paid N3.52billion each as refund to local government councils on withdrawals for subsidy and SURE-P from 2009 to 2015 on the same date in November.

  • Much ado about toilets – By Udeme Nana

    Much ado about toilets – By Udeme Nana

    Dr UDEME NANA

    Last Saturday, 27th of August, the heavens opened and rain descended across Akwa Ibom state.

    It was a cold and wet day, but Ikot Akpan Nkuk, headquarters of Ukanafun Local government council, one of the pioneer local government Areas in the Oil rich Akwa Ibom state braved the downpour to host the commissioning of modern public conveniences donated by an indigene of the area for use by workers in the Council.

    Although erroneously described as “ultra modern”, what was commissioned can not by any standard be termed “ultra modern” because what would pass as ultra-modern toilets now do not use water; they are digitally operated and faeces and urine disappear as the user leaves the toilet seat. These are used in smart buildings where everything is controlled digitally.

    The dignitaries at the commissioning included Mr Moses Ekpo, deputy Governor of the state, traditional rulers, Mr Udeme Ufot, one of the leading Advertising practitioners in the country, Barr. Aniekan Ukpanah, Managing Partner and Head of Banking & Finance practice, Udo Udoma & Bello – Osagie law firm , Lagos, Rt. Hon Aniekan Umanah, Member House of Representatives, Barr Emmanuel Enoidem, former National Legal adviser of the Peoles Democratic Party and Senatorial Candidate of the party in the district, and a bevy of Political Chieftains from the environs.

    The building housing the public conveniences was donated by Mr. Ekan Ukpanah, President, Nung Ukpanah family Union to the National Union of Local government employees (NULGE), Ukanafun Chapter.

    The Donor was worried about the non existence of such a facility in the work environment of a local government headquarters which had been in existence for more than forty years.

    “As an environmentalist, I know the importance of public conveniences, and as a town planner, I can’t approve permits for buildings without such facilities,” He stated while speaking at the occasion. In his address, the Deputy Governor popularly called Uncle MO, described the public conveniences as a vital facility .

    He said the existence in the council premises would encourage seriousness at work by the Staff, observing that ‘nobody now has any excuse to abscond from work’. Uncle MO further stated that the contribution will promote efficiency at work , improve sanitation apart from checking truancy, adding that it wasn’t a flimsy excuse to go to the toilet .The Deputy Governor paid tribute to the Ukpanah family for sustaining the legacy started by their forbears recalling that it was the late Barr. Asuquo Ukpanah who led the chase for the creation of the local Government Council and while his younger brother, the late Obong Senator Akaninyene Ukpanah served as its pioneer Chairman.

    But no sooner than the news spread that the Deputy Governor attended the event in person to commission the facilities, hell was let loose in condemnation of the Deputy Governor for lending the weight of his big office to the commissioning of ‘toilets’ Dean Evergreen screamed ‘in this era, people are still commissioning toilets.. The D. Governor is not even ashamed to be engaged in such scrimmage’
    Celestine Mel, an Abuja based public affairs commentator was aghast and fumed ‘Where did NULGE folks in Ukanafun go to answer the call of nature all these years ? The bushes? We play too much in this country’.

    He wrote ‘In 2022, when Elon Musk is finalizing preparation to relocate some folks to Mars on a one-way ticket; when his the constellation of starlink satellites is set to beam high-speed wireless internet to the remotest corners of the earth from space; when Dubai has already launched the first metropolitan drone taxi service; when MTN is rolling out 5G wireless internet to most urban centers in Nigeria; when speed trains are connecting European capitals at 350 km/h; when cars are about to migrate from dependence on fossil fuels to renewables; when the wealth of nations are no longer measured by the size of their natural resources but the depth of their knowledge base, we in our dear state are holding intellectual discussions about the propriety or otherwise of commissioning modern toilets in a local government council by the deputy governor.‘ he further penned.

    Someone in tandem with Celestine Mel complained in the following words ‘there is nothing “ENGLISH” will not do to us. Imagine from “toilet” to convenience” !

    Those who made so much fuss about the commissioning of those basic facilities may have forgotten that provision of such facilities aligned with one of the items of the millennium development goals (MDG’s) and its successor program , the Sustainable development goals SDG’s which has good health , well being and sanitation as important concerns.

    But the critics met their match in another Public Affairs commentator, Vincent Aluu , who pooh – poohed their vituperation.

    Vincent responded ‘Shit business is a very serious business that some Nigerians don’t want to talk about. But there is no one that does not do shit business in their homes.’

    Aluu argued ‘The hard truth is : shit exists because we produce it. It’s a natural consequence of the things we eat and for as long as we exist, shit always will ! And like all the other tons of waste we produce everyday (including garbage), someone has to get rid of it or else our environment will be impossible to live in.’

    According to him ‘the way we think of toilets must undergo a fundamental shift if we are to see meaningful progress. We must put the user experience front and centre. A young girl experiencing good smelling and safe toilets will grow into a woman who will appreciate and ensure that she provides a similar experience to her family, and will expect it as a right.’

    In further justification, he alluded to the fact that Nigeria had become the number one open defecation nation globally passing India.”

    Aluu quipped ‘How Nigeria overtook India is a matter of serious concern’ noting that India has a population of 1.353 billion people and 3.287 million km2 land area, against Nigeria’s estimated 200 million people and 923,769km2 land area.

    According to Aluu , ‘Apart from bringing a negative social stigma to Nigeria, which is touted as the Giant of Africa and the most populous black nation in the world, open defecation also poses obvious environmental, health and economic problems for Nigeria and its nationals. It pollutes the environment and exposes children and adults to critical health problems like diarrhoea (hence leading to untimely deaths).’

    To solve this problem of open defecation and inadequate toilet facilities, that writer noted “there is a need for collaboration between the government at all levels and relevant agencies.

    The Public Affairs analyst urged organisations like banks, oil, insurance and manufacturing companies to donate latrines/toilets where needed across the nation as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR).

    Etido Ibekwe, a Medical Doctor, while underscoring the importance of public conveniences stated that ’emptying of bowels is actually an involuntary action by the peristaltic movement of the intestines. Once the descending colon is full, the urge to defecate comes naturally. However, if this urge is controlled habitually by the individual, it predisposes to constipation. The resultant effect of this to the body is that of retaining toxins that would otherwise have been excreted & expelled from the body. When toxins are retained, it predisposes to ailments that can lead to liver & kidney failures or other organ failure’. In a society consumed by poverty and superstition and without adequate medical facilities , who knows how many people from that area have died from complications arising from their inability to empty their bowels as at and when they had the urge?

    The provision of the modern public conveniences at Ikot Akpan Nkuk, Ukanafun by an indigene , Ekan Ukpanah and the Deputy Governor lending the weight of his big office to the formal commissioning of the facilities may not have been well received by a section of the people but it shows the love of one privileged indigene for his people. The concerned citizen , Ekan Ukpanah, met a felt need of the local Government employees Union and as Barr. Emmanuel Enoidem, former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party highlighted “the provision of the public conveniences and it’s official commissioning “signposts the evolution from outright open and indiscriminate defecation , using the bush and pit latrines by our people.”

    There is a possibility that there are hundreds of local Council headquarters in Nigeria , public schools , offices , places of worship, marketplaces , shopping malls , motor parks and health facilities lacking in such critical infrastructure.

    This little but vital contribution by Ekan Ukpanah shows that well to do individuals can do whatever they could to help their communities and not just stand , stare and complain. On the whole , this writer wonders about what was racing through the minds of the political leaders who gathered to witness the event since some of them had occupied high positions of responsibility in that local Council , at the state and national level.

    The Writer, Dr UDEME NANA is the Founder , Uyo Book Club and the leading promoter of the Book Club initiative in Akwa Ibom State.

  • Gov Emmanuel inaugurates construction of 200-bed capacity General Hospital

    Gov Emmanuel inaugurates construction of 200-bed capacity General Hospital

    Gov Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom state has commenced the construction of a 200-bed capacity General Hospital at Oko Ita in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of the state.

    Emmanuel promised the people of Ibiono Ibom that the general hospital, which would cater for the health needs of the residents, would be completed before the end of his administration in May 2023.

    The governor, who was represented by Prof. Augustine Umoh, Commissioner for Health, said this during the groundbreaking ceremony of the project in Oko Ita.

    “We want good health for all the residents as evident in the building of modern hospitals across the state.

    “It must have taken a while before we came to Ibiono Ibom and while waiting, something was cooking so, the hospital we want to give to Ibiono Ibom will be one of the best.

    “This hospital is going to be a two-story building and we are going to start with the mother and child section of the hospital.

    “We will be constructing the hospital in phases and certainly we will complete it in the life of this administration,” Emmanuel said.

    Earlier in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Patrick Eshiet, said the hospital was in collaboration with the State and Federal Governments through Sustainable Development Goals.

    Eshiet said that the facility when completed, would comprise units like the maternal and child health department, and administrative block.

    Other facilities in the hospital would include Accident and Emergency block (A&E), General Outpatient Department (GOPD), general theatre, male wards, female wards, mortuary and staff quarters.

    The member representing Ibiono Ibom in the House of Assembly, Mr Godwin Ekpo, thanked the governor for the groundbreaking in preparation to build the hospital.

    Ekpo appealed to the governor to ensure the completion of the project within the life span of the administration as promised.

    He said that the people of Ibiono Ibom had donated the land for government to build a general hospital since 1999, adding that the people were happy as the Emmanuel’s administration was the one to construct the hospital.

    He assured that the community would continue to support the governor’s completion agenda as the 2023 general elections were fast approaching.

  • AKWA IBOM: INEC organizes farewell ceremony for its REC, Barrister Mike Igini

    AKWA IBOM: INEC organizes farewell ceremony for its REC, Barrister Mike Igini

    Management of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akwa Ibom State has announced a farewell ceremony for its outgoing Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Barrister Mike Igini.

    In a statement by the State’s INEC Admin Secretary, Emmanuel Ogbodu, the event would hold on August 12 at 10:00 am as the State’s electoral stakeholders are invited to grace the occasion.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the farewell ceremony will be held at Ibom Hall, IBB Avenue, Uyo area of Akwa Ibom State.

    His second term as INEC REC elapses on August 15, 2022. The REC would be remembered for ensuring that nobody successfully rigged election under his watch.

    Igini, who was a former union leader during his university days, had revealed that INEC has developed robust tracking systems to monitor elections.

    See invitation below:

    AKWA IBOM: INEC organizes farewell ceremony for its REC, Barrister Mike Igini

     

  • PDP Senator defects to YPP to actualise governorship ambition

    PDP Senator defects to YPP to actualise governorship ambition

    Sen. Bassey Akpan, (PDP-Akwa Ibom), on Monday at his Ibiono Ibom Eastern Ward 1, defected to the Young Progressives Party (YPP) to actualise his governorship ambition.

    Akpan on July 15, resigned his membership from the PDP on the grounds that the party could not afford him the platform to actualise the people’s aspirations.

    Akpan, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources  Upstream, was a PDP governorship aspirant in Akwa Ibom.

    He said though some persons boasted in their financial war chests, they could never buy the conscience and rights of the Akwa Ibom people.

    Akpan said that he and his teeming supporters were joining the party to help build and improve on the foundation, so that it could form the next government of Akwa Ibom.

    “Today, a new Akwa Ibom births Akwa Ibom for you and Akwa Ibom for me. Akwa Ibom where there will be justice for all,” Akpan said.

    The lawmaker said the 2023 elections would be about character, competence and capacity, stressing that he would not let Akwa Ibom people down.

    He commended the state Chairman of YPP,  Mr Nnyeneime Andy, for rejecting all financial inducements from politicians in the state.

    Andy, while welcoming him and others into the party, said Young  Progressives Party (YPP) had become the fastest growing party in the state with the senator’s entrance.

    He presented the party’s membership card to the Senator after completing membership registration formalities.

  • How INEC’s REC undermines APC in Akwa Ibom State – By Ken Harries

    How INEC’s REC undermines APC in Akwa Ibom State – By Ken Harries

    No doubt, the Independent National Electoral Commission has the powers to monitor the organization and operation of political parties, including their finances, conventions, congresses and primaries.

    Similarly, it is also the sole responsibility of political parties to nominate candidates for election. Both the constitution and the Electoral Act give different powers to both the political parties and the INEC.

    Section 29 (1) of the Electoral Act 22 provides “Every political party shall, not later than 180 days before the date appointed for a general election under this Act, submit to the Commission, in the prescribed Forms, the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections, who must have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the political party.”

    While section 84 (13) states that, “Where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of this Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidate for election shall not be included in the election for the particular position in issue.”

    However, exercising these powers have not been devoid of frictions between INEC and political parties. The dispute between Akwa Ibom chapter of All Progressives Congress and the INEC as represented by its Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State – Mike Igini, is case in point.

    What is not in doubt is the fact that it is the responsibility of political parties to submit the list of their candidates to INEC.

    Following a Federal High court judgment that declared Obong Stephen Ntukekpo the chairman of APC in Akwa Ibom State and confirmation by the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, the Resident Electoral Commissioner has contemptuously refused to recognize this judgments. He also refused to relate with him. The Secretary to the commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony had to write to Mike Igini drawing his attention to the judgment of a Federal High Court declaring Ntukekpo as the chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom and advising him to comply with the content of the judgment. Notwithstanding this letter, the resident electoral commissioner continues to deny the recognition to the APC leadership in the state.

    Even if the resident electoral commissioner disagreed with the court judgment, he had no choice but to comply with it until an appellate court has set it aside. But in sheer disregard to the rule of law, the resident electoral commissioner continued to accord recognition to another faction of the APC.

    He therefore chose to monitor primaries conducted by the faction not recognized by law. He would not have anything to do with the legally recognized leadership of the APC in Akwa Ibom. His office would not accept correspondences from the legitimate leadership. The party having give INEC statutory notices indicating schedules of its primaries, the can not compel INEC to exercise its statutory responsibility of monitoring the primaries. He didn’t stop there.

    He granted interviews to newspapers and television stations in which he ridiculed a valid court judgment thereby sitting on an appeal on the judgment of the federal high court. In one of such interviews, Igini said that APC would not participate in the governorship and National Assembly election in Akwa Ibom because it does not have candidates.

    This exactly is the crux of the crisis in Akwa Ibom. INEC cannot pick and choose which primaries to monitor. If INEC, out of disdain for the legitimate leadership of a political party chooses to monitor a primary conducted by an illegal faction, should the party be punished or accused of not conducting a valid primary? Put differently, what happens where a political party invites INEC to monitor its primaries and INEC declines? Should the political party be punished for INEC negligence and transgression? These and many more are the issues that the court will have to resolve in the Akwa Ibom case.

    However, to err on the side of caution, it makes sense for INEC to allow the list of candidates sent by the APC to be on the ballot. If a court of law holds that the list should not have been accepted, then so be it. However, it will do an incalculable and irreversible injustice and damage to the APC if INEC does not allow the party to field candidates. Even if the court holds that the list should have been accepted, other parties might have been declared winner of the election.

    Holding the balance of justice, is the least that is expected of an unbiased umpire. To do otherwise, is to give in to allegation that INEC is working for Peoples Democratic Party in Akwa Ibom. A stitch in time saves nine.

  • South-South APC wants Akwa Ibom REC to resign or be removed

    The APC in the South – South geopolitical zone of Nigeria wants the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Akwa Ibom State to resign or be sacked.

    The party’s Zonal Organising Secretary, Dr. Blessing Agbomhere stated this on Tuesday in a press statement.

    Dr Agbomhere said the REC, Mr. Mike Igini’s comments and role in the controversial governorship and senatorial primaries were not befitting of someone highly placed.

    Agbomhere accused Igini of being ‘biased and partial’, adding that his conduct gave him away as a man who was ‘indebted, compromised, and running higgledy-piggledy to appeal to his pay-master.”

    Related Story: 3 more APC senators resign from party

    Udum Ekpoudum remains APC candidate for Akwa Ibom North, not Akpabio; INEC says

    “My attention has been drawn to the vituperation and grandstanding by the Akwa Ibom State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Mike Igini, regarding the governorship and senatorial primary elections for the Akwa Ibom State.

    As far as the APC primary elections in Akwa Ibom states is concerned, the role played by Mike Igini so far is biased, partial and reasonably shows the act of a man who is indebted, compromised, and running higgledy-piggledy to appeal to his pay-master,” he said.

    Continuing, the APC chieftain stressed that it was up to the members of the APC, not Igini, to dispute the primary election that produced the candidates forwarded by the party.

    This is even as he warned that if Igini had an axe to grind with former Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio, he should not drag other party members into their feud.

    Parties who participate in primary elections and are members of a political party are in the best position to disagree over the outcome of an election, not INEC. It is not in the place of Igini to dispute the election, except he is a member of the APC and a contestant in the said primary election.

    “Let me further emphasise that it is the duty of the political party to send names of their candidates to INEC and not Igini. If Igini has personal issues with Senator Godswill Akpabio, he should avail himself of a different forum to sort the issues out with him, as we will not allow him to stand as an impediment to the imminent victory of the APC in Akwa Ibom and the South-South of Nigeria. And having done what he has done, Igini is no longer fit to be INEC Resident Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State.

    “I, therefore, call on Igini to, without further delay, resign his position as Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State. In the event that Igini refuses to resign, I call on the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to sack Igini without hesitation in order to ensure that the political atmosphere in Akwa Ibom State does not degenerate into anarchy and the reputation of INEC is not reduced to that of a mad man, who has no shame or nothing to protect,” he charged.

  • Akpabio emerges Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial candidate

    Former Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has emerged the winner of the Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial primary under the All Progressives Congress  ( APC) platform.

    The first primary conducted on May 28, 2022, for the senatorial district was cancelled following security infractions during the primary.

    Recall that Akpabio was one of the presidential aspirants of the party but stepped down for Bola Tinubu at the dying minutes of the Special convention.

     

    However .Akpabio won the rerun poll having polled 478 votes, while Sir Joseph Akpan had only one vote, and the former Deputy Inspector general of Police who initially won the first primary had three votes.

    Out of the 540 delegates for the rerun primary, 512 were accreditated to vote while eleven votes were voided.

    Speaking on Thursday night at the Godswill Akpabio Empowerment Centre in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area, shortly after he was declared the winner, Akpabio thanked the delegates for their support and for finding him worthy to fly the flag of the party in the 2023 senatorial election

    “I thank the Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial district for finding me worthy to be given another opportunity to contest for a senatorial seat in the Senate. I recall when you gave me the first mandate in 2015 to 2019, I recall that there is no senator ever that did the kind of empowerment I did for you.

  • Gunmen kill PDP chieftain in Akwa Ibom

    Gunmen kill PDP chieftain in Akwa Ibom

     

    A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, Sylvester Ntefre has been assassinated by unknown gunmen.

    TheNewsGuru.com learnt that he was killed at his residence in Ekparakwa by the yet-to-identified gunmen who escaped leaving behind a car, with which they arrived the residence.

    The Toyota Jeep, our correspondent learnt, was abandoned, because of the youths of the community who mobilised against the gunmen even after killing the deceased.

    The incident, TheNewsGuru.clm further learnt, occurred on Sunday around morning as the criminals attempted to abduct the former party chieftain in his compound.

    READ ALSO: Akwa Ibom APC Congress: Probe Forgery Allegations – Group Urges APC National Leadership

    Mrs Sarah Williamson who was an eyewitness said the gunmen arrived the residence of the deceased in a black jeep and dragged him outside while other members of the gang were shooting to scare neighbours.

    The eye witnesses stated that the sporadic gunshots by the assailants attracted the attention of the youths who raised alarm against the gunmen, forcing the whole community to chase them.

    She added that when the youths started to chase them, the gunmen had already abducted and taken the victim to a nearby bush where he was shot while members of the gang who were waiting in a standby black jeep abandoned it, ran out of the car and escaped through the bush.

    In her words, “The community people came out and rolled the jeep away from that place after the gunmen ran away leaving the car behind. But it was already too late because they had killed Chief Ntefre who the youths later discovered at a bush nearby.

    TheNEwsGuru.com further gathered that the youths quickly searched the bush where they discovered the corpse of the party chieftain lying in the pool of his blood.

    The incident is coming barely three days after a popular Catholic priest, Alphonsus Uboh of St X Parish, along Ekparakwa- Etinan road was abducted and released after spending four days in the kidnappers’ den.

    The resident who pleaded anonymity said the killing of the party chieftain may not be unconnected with the forthcoming House of Assembly party primary election coming up within the week as the deceased party chieftain never supported the ambition of one of the contenders.

    “This incident has some political contents. The deceased was known for being upright in his stand against some contenders in the House of Assembly race in the area.

    “This one has surprised everybody. This one is politically motivated. Every person kidnapped in this community paid a ransom and regains freedom but this was an assassination,” the resident said.

    However, when contacted, AKwa Ibom State Police Public Relations Officer, Odiko Mcdon, said he was yet to receive an official report on the incident but promised to react once the command is briefed.

    “We have not received any information concerning that. However, I will react when the command receives such information.”