Akwa Ibom Assures Tinubu Of 2m Votes After Deep Seaport Approval

Ahead of January 2027 general elections, some residents of in Akwa Ibom State have assured President Bola Tinubu of two million votes following his approval of the multi – million dollar Ibom Deep Seaport project.

Addressing a crowd of party supporters at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium during his visit to the state yesterday, President Tinubu noted that Akwa Ibom State was blessed with good leaders who had laid sustainable development foundation over the years.

He said the establishment of the Deep Seaport would galvanise socio- economic development and create more jobs and infrastructure in the state.

Urging the population, especially the youths to arm themselves with the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), the president pointed out that the two million votes would only be achieved with the facility.

Dismissing opposition parties as inconsequential in the polls, Tinubu, who stated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) “is not like other mushroom parties,” declared that everything was in place to win massively to make his re-election easier.

“We are a symbol of progress, development, infrastructure, human capital development and unity of Nigeria,” he said and appealed for patience as his reform agenda would soon yield fruits to end poverty and usher in a new era of property.

He recalled that he had over the years struggled and fought for democracy, which according to him, has guaranteed freedom for development to thrive and rallied Nigerians to be in the vanguard of his re-election for more dividends of democracy to thrive.

To alleviate the burden of education on students, the president stated that he introduced some education intervention schemes including NELFUND, stopped frequent strikes in universities through payment of backlogs of salary arrears and other welfare packages to make education functional.

He, therefore, urged the people of the state to rally round the governor whom he gave a pass mark for infrastructure development, some of which he took time out to commission from the international airport terminal and other projects before addressing supporters at the stadium.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, in the same vein, appealed to eligible voters not to waste their votes for opposition parties, especially for former vice president, Atiku Abukakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Peter Obi of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), accusing them of not being trustworthy, even when they were in public office.

According to Shettima, despite several years of Atiku holding public office, his track record had no positive impact on Nigerans, recalling that the former VP was responsible for the power sector crises, saying that much of the power sector debt owed during Atiku’s era as vice president was being paid by the current administration of President Tinubu.

“The presidency is not a retirement ground,” he reminded Atiku, recalling that his alleged bad politics in his hometown, Adamawa, had made the state lose focus with successive governors and deputies not being able to forge a common front.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, on his part, assured Akwa Ibom would deliver two million votes for the president as eligible voters were ready and armed with their PVCs to return the president and the governor for their second terms.

Governor Eno, while welcoming the president, applauded his fatherly disposition to leadership, noting that working with the Senate President, his era had facilitated more federal presence to the state with improved allocations and assured that the state would work towards his resounding victory on January 16, 2027.

Senator Abdulazeez Yeri, chairman of the Presidential Campaign Committee; his deputy, Senator Adams Oshiomhole,; the national chairman of APC, Prof. Nentawe Yiltwada; Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State and others gave the president a clean bill, assuring him of seamless victory at the polls without rigging.

According to them, his impactful development projects and other sectoral interventions already acknowledged and given a pass mark by the World Bank and other international agencies would fetch the president the smooth ride back to the Villa.