COMMUNIQUE
ISSUED AT THE END OF IKOT EKPENE SENATORIAL DISTRICT STAKEHOLDERS
MEETING HELD AT THE SENATORIAL CONSTITUENCY DISTRICT OFFICE, UKANA,
ESSIEN UDIM LGA ON DECEMBER 24, 2015
The Stakeholders of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, in a meeting to consider and deliberate on issues of currency and importance to the Senatorial District in particular and Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria in general, do resolve to pursue the ends of justice, democracy and good governance as a tripartite principle to uplift our society.
The meeting in consideration of these principles further resolved as follows:
1. That we stand by the election of Governor Udom Emmanuel as the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and by the mandate freely given to him to exercise that office along with Mr Moses Ekpo, MFR, as his deputy, in a free and fair election on April 11, 2015.
2. That the mandate was given to Mr Udom Emmanuel from Eket Senatorial District based on the need for equity, fairness, justice and fair play and on the principle of rotation of power and zoning (a political reflection of the Federal Character principle enshrined in our constitution).
3. That the mandate reflected the resolve of the good people of Akwa Ibom State to be fair and just to Eket Senatorial District after noting that Uyo Senatorial District has ruled the state democratically for nine and a half years through the late Obong Akpan Isemin (1991 - 1993) and Obong Victor Attah (1999 - 2007), and Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District has ruled the state for eight years through Senator Godswill Akpabio (2007 – 2015).
4. That in giving this mandate to Eket Senatorial District through Mr Udom Emmanuel, the good people of Akwa Ibom State unanimously noted that from the creation of Akwa Ibom State, Eket Senatorial District has never produced a governor within or outside Akwa Ibom State (military or civilian) whereas Uyo Senatorial District has produced Governors through Group Capt Sam Ewang (Ogun and River State), Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga (Akwa Ibom), Obong Akpan Isemin and Obong Victor Attah.
5. It was also noted that Eket Senatorial District has twelve local government areas, whereas Uyo Senatorial District has nine and Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District has ten and yet Eket inspite of its numerical advantage and being the bread basket of the state and the nation (being the oil bearing local government areas) had so far been deprived of the leadership of the state.
6. That the foregoing reasons premised on the reason that the good people of Akwa Ibom State unanimously and passionately trooped out in their numbers and overwhelmingly voted for the Peoples Democratic Party giving the party a score of 956,071 as against 89,865 for the other parties (APC inclusive).
7. That this figure could not have been obtained without mass support and that the election was not rigged or manipulated in anyway.
8. That the voting reflected the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District and the entire states resolve to stick to the principles of justice, fairness and equity and stand by the election of Governor Udom Emmanuel now and at all times.
9. That the Stakeholders noted that the candidate of the APC who was in the PDP, and actually bought the PDP governorship primaries form, is from Uyo Senatorial District and knows that it is not the turn of Uyo Senatorial District to produce governor in 2015.
10. That the Senatorial District expresses our faith in the Judiciary as the beacon of justice and the last hope of the common man. We, however, thank God that there is still an opportunity to do justice to our people through the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the Governorship Election of 2015.
11. That the Supreme Court decision will not only serve the need for justice but confirm our faith in the Judiciary and save the Federal Government money which would have been wasted in conducting a needless rerun and spare the electorate the discomfort of another election which result would not be different from the last election.
12. However, the Stakeholders are bewildered that the Court of Appeal which upheld the election of 22 out of 25 members of the House of Assembly (PDP), shockingly nullified the Gubernatorial election result when both elections were conducted the same day, underwent the same accreditation and used the same officials and processes. From the standpoint of common logic, we wonder how the court came to such incongruous and inexplicable conclusions on identical and related matters. More over, the card reader was used to nullify Akwa Ibom State Governorship election but the card reader was declared irrelevant in Lagos and Yobe elections.
13. That we condemn the outburst of the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun, that the APC will forcefully take Akwa Ibom from PDP by all means noting that this comment was subjudice since the matter was pending at the Court of Appeal and the comments came two days before the judgment.
14. The meeting noted that this unfortunate outburst corroborated the APC strategy position paper which has been widely publicised and which detailed a plot by APC to circumvent due processes and use underhand tactics to ride roughshod over PDP in Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States among others.
15. The meeting expressed deep concern over plans by elements within the APC-led Federal Government to hound, intimidate and arrest dignitaries in PDP, Akwa Ibom State, as a strategy to weaken the PDP in the unlikely event of a governorship rerun.
16. The Stakeholders unanimously commended President Buhari on his anti terrorism and anti-corruption stand, but urge him to caution the elements who seek to exploit his victory to their evil and selfish advantage to give peace and democracy a chance in Nigeria.
17. The Stakeholders maintained that the Nigerian Constitution has been promoting multi-party politics since 1960 and that it was the strict observance of this by PDP, which led to the APC having a level playing field to contest and win the Presidential Election. It, therefore, urged the APC to toe the paths of other parties in government since 1960 and not seek to turn the country into a one-party system by all means.
18. That Stakeholders proudly passed votes of confidence in the following persons, His Excellency Mr Udom Emmanuel, His Excellency Mr Moses Ekpo and His Excellency Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, for their efficient discharge of their responsibilities and exemplary leadership in the offices of Governor, Deputy Governor and Senator and Minority Leader respectively.
Signed this 24th day of December, 2015.
The Stakeholders of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, in a meeting to consider and deliberate on issues of currency and importance to the Senatorial District in particular and Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria in general, do resolve to pursue the ends of justice, democracy and good governance as a tripartite principle to uplift our society.
The meeting in consideration of these principles further resolved as follows:
1. That we stand by the election of Governor Udom Emmanuel as the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and by the mandate freely given to him to exercise that office along with Mr Moses Ekpo, MFR, as his deputy, in a free and fair election on April 11, 2015.
2. That the mandate was given to Mr Udom Emmanuel from Eket Senatorial District based on the need for equity, fairness, justice and fair play and on the principle of rotation of power and zoning (a political reflection of the Federal Character principle enshrined in our constitution).
3. That the mandate reflected the resolve of the good people of Akwa Ibom State to be fair and just to Eket Senatorial District after noting that Uyo Senatorial District has ruled the state democratically for nine and a half years through the late Obong Akpan Isemin (1991 - 1993) and Obong Victor Attah (1999 - 2007), and Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District has ruled the state for eight years through Senator Godswill Akpabio (2007 – 2015).
4. That in giving this mandate to Eket Senatorial District through Mr Udom Emmanuel, the good people of Akwa Ibom State unanimously noted that from the creation of Akwa Ibom State, Eket Senatorial District has never produced a governor within or outside Akwa Ibom State (military or civilian) whereas Uyo Senatorial District has produced Governors through Group Capt Sam Ewang (Ogun and River State), Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga (Akwa Ibom), Obong Akpan Isemin and Obong Victor Attah.
5. It was also noted that Eket Senatorial District has twelve local government areas, whereas Uyo Senatorial District has nine and Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District has ten and yet Eket inspite of its numerical advantage and being the bread basket of the state and the nation (being the oil bearing local government areas) had so far been deprived of the leadership of the state.
6. That the foregoing reasons premised on the reason that the good people of Akwa Ibom State unanimously and passionately trooped out in their numbers and overwhelmingly voted for the Peoples Democratic Party giving the party a score of 956,071 as against 89,865 for the other parties (APC inclusive).
7. That this figure could not have been obtained without mass support and that the election was not rigged or manipulated in anyway.
8. That the voting reflected the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District and the entire states resolve to stick to the principles of justice, fairness and equity and stand by the election of Governor Udom Emmanuel now and at all times.
9. That the Stakeholders noted that the candidate of the APC who was in the PDP, and actually bought the PDP governorship primaries form, is from Uyo Senatorial District and knows that it is not the turn of Uyo Senatorial District to produce governor in 2015.
10. That the Senatorial District expresses our faith in the Judiciary as the beacon of justice and the last hope of the common man. We, however, thank God that there is still an opportunity to do justice to our people through the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the Governorship Election of 2015.
11. That the Supreme Court decision will not only serve the need for justice but confirm our faith in the Judiciary and save the Federal Government money which would have been wasted in conducting a needless rerun and spare the electorate the discomfort of another election which result would not be different from the last election.
12. However, the Stakeholders are bewildered that the Court of Appeal which upheld the election of 22 out of 25 members of the House of Assembly (PDP), shockingly nullified the Gubernatorial election result when both elections were conducted the same day, underwent the same accreditation and used the same officials and processes. From the standpoint of common logic, we wonder how the court came to such incongruous and inexplicable conclusions on identical and related matters. More over, the card reader was used to nullify Akwa Ibom State Governorship election but the card reader was declared irrelevant in Lagos and Yobe elections.
13. That we condemn the outburst of the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun, that the APC will forcefully take Akwa Ibom from PDP by all means noting that this comment was subjudice since the matter was pending at the Court of Appeal and the comments came two days before the judgment.
14. The meeting noted that this unfortunate outburst corroborated the APC strategy position paper which has been widely publicised and which detailed a plot by APC to circumvent due processes and use underhand tactics to ride roughshod over PDP in Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States among others.
15. The meeting expressed deep concern over plans by elements within the APC-led Federal Government to hound, intimidate and arrest dignitaries in PDP, Akwa Ibom State, as a strategy to weaken the PDP in the unlikely event of a governorship rerun.
16. The Stakeholders unanimously commended President Buhari on his anti terrorism and anti-corruption stand, but urge him to caution the elements who seek to exploit his victory to their evil and selfish advantage to give peace and democracy a chance in Nigeria.
17. The Stakeholders maintained that the Nigerian Constitution has been promoting multi-party politics since 1960 and that it was the strict observance of this by PDP, which led to the APC having a level playing field to contest and win the Presidential Election. It, therefore, urged the APC to toe the paths of other parties in government since 1960 and not seek to turn the country into a one-party system by all means.
18. That Stakeholders proudly passed votes of confidence in the following persons, His Excellency Mr Udom Emmanuel, His Excellency Mr Moses Ekpo and His Excellency Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, for their efficient discharge of their responsibilities and exemplary leadership in the offices of Governor, Deputy Governor and Senator and Minority Leader respectively.
Signed this 24th day of December, 2015.
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