Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Obongemem Ekperikpe Ekpo, has identified tussles over the political leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State as the bane of the main opposition party during the run-up to the last general elections in 2023, assuring that with the emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio as senate president, the rebuilding process of the party has commenced.
He therefore urged party stakeholders and all affiliate support groups to be in the vanguard of restoring the fortunes of the APC in Akwa Ibom by rallying round the Senate President, whom fate has ordained and accorded the authentic political leader of the party in the state.
The minister, who addressed a forum of stakeholders and leaders drawn from the Akwa Ibom Democratic Forum (ADF), one of the foremost APC support groups he (Ekpo) personally summoned to converge in his Esteem School’s premises in Abak LGA, as part of the New Year “get together,” said It was time for a new lease of life to be breathed into the party.
LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that the minister also took time out to assuage the feelings of some of the party candidates in the last general elections, as well as supporters numbering about 150, across the 31 LGAs.
The convener, Ekpo, thanked the conferees for their quick response despite their busy schedules that often herald every New Year, adding that the prompt response of members at short notice, is expressive of their readiness to sustain the group as a family which is anchored on strong values.
He emphasised that “we have a leader in the person of Senator Godswill Akpabio,” noting that the sacrifice he made to sustain the APC and by extension ADF, which was in the vanguard of rescuing the party from those he described as “political buccaneers” confers on the Senate President the authentic leadership of the party in the state and warned against further factionalisation and balkanization of the party.
He recalled that Akpabio’s sacrificial leadership was also brought to bear when he sacrificed his presidential aspiration and stepped down for President Bola Tinubu in the interest of the South and the oneness of a Nigeria that is sustained on the values of justice and equity.
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