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POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW
Thursday, April 17, 2014
A’Ibom governorship open to all –Umanah Aniekan Umanah is the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information and Communications. In this interview with TONY ANICHEBE, he clarifies some issues he says are misrepresentations by a section of the public about government actions. Excerpts: The town hall meeting put together by the state government has been criticised for leaving the issue of emergence of a particular aspirant as governor in 2015. How true is this? That assumption is incorrect. The idea of the town hall meetings put together by the governor was to enhance participatory democracy. The governor goes there to present his scorecard and he also listens to the people, their problems and needs and he gets feedback from the people. They have been very revealing. The governor gets to hear the minds of notable citizens from every federal constituency. So far, he has concluded the meetings in all the federal constituencies and it has been good. We didn’t go there to sell any candidate; the people of Akwa Ibom spoke on the projects and on their political future. The people spoke their mind on many issues. Don’t forget that before now the governor had made clear that anybody can contest any election in any office he so desired and that everybody is prevented by the constitution to aspire to any office. Don’t forget that when the governor contested his election in 2007, they were 58 aspirants from every part of the state. But for the sake of justice, equity and fair play, the thinking is that since the state is sitting on the tripod of three Senatorial Districts, since the Uyo Senatorial District had the shot from the time of Obong Akpan Isemin to the era of Obong Victor Attah, and since Ikot Ekpene District is having its own slot presently with Governor Godswill Akpabio, I think the right thing to do is to encourage the people of Eket Senatorial District to produce the next governor so that the three Senatorial Districts will be fully represented. Why is the race limited to Eket Senatorial District when past governorship contest was open to all? That is why I said earlier that the race is an open one. Of course when Akpabio contested in 2007 people from Oron, Uyo contested. After all, when you look at the outcome of the 2007 primaries, Akpabio came first and other persons were from different parts of the state. Chief Udoma Ekarika came second, Larry Esin from Oro Nation was third, Bassey Inuayen from Ikono/Ini axis contested same election, Ubong Nsima Ekere from Ikot Abasi contested. Even people from Uyo Senatorial District contested so it is not restricted at all. Your colleagues in the cabinet recently adopted three of the council members and presented them to the governor as their choice for 2015 governorship. Why this? It is all participatory democracy; the
cabinet members have the right to say yes, we have three of us capable of contesting the governorship race. I don’t see anything wrong with our action; people are canvassing support for different people. Are cabinet members no longer Akwa Ibom people? Don’t we have the right to say we are looking at this direction; we took that action because it was our own thinking. Don’t forget it is not binding on anybody because it is the electorate that will decide; the electorate will vote and exco members have their own votes at the end of the day. The election will be won by the most preferred candidates by the electorate. Some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the state recently petitioned the party’s national chairman, Adamu Mu’azu calling for the removal of the state’s party exco, alleging that they were imposed on the people. What is your take on this? Those are renegades. The architects of this message thought they could confuse the people; they have forgotten that the election was conducted, contested and was shown live on television. Some of the people behind the so-called petition spoke at the congress and they are alive. I think their action is tantamount to idleness. The E-library, one of the main projects executed by the governor, appears to be malfunctioning presently. What is the problem? It will grow into optimal performance. Yes, there is an interim management there but the larger and enduring management system will soon be in place. It is a beautiful project and when you go there you will see library users and mostly children making use of the facilities. Soonest some of the present technical problems will be permanently resolved. Ibaka Deep Sea Port when completed was expected to address the unemployment problem in the state, but it appears the project is stalled. What is the situation now? A deep seaport project is not like building a family house or building an office block. We have to do the preparatory work before the actual take-off of the project like the geophysical and maritime requisites needed for such a gigantic project. Don’t forget that government has acquired a massive land for this project and set aside some funds too. We have had the ground breaking ceremony and did all the geological survey, and a steering committee for investors has also come and indicated interest in some areas. So, all that is needed to help kick start the project to see the light of day has been put in place. And the proj-
Umanah
ect is rearing to go on. This is a very significant project for our state.
people of Abak federal constituency have told the governor that for the good job he has done for our people, for wiping our tears and opening up several forgotten areas, if it is the only thing we can do for him to go to Abuja and attract more developmental projects to us, then let it be. You have to look at a man’s legs before sending him to dig trenches; because you have to be sure his legs will be able to turn the mud. We have sized the governor and the people of Abak Federal constituency are very pleased with the governor and will always stand by him. There are some politicians who may be sponsoring people to make unnecessary noise.
The part of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District known as Abak axis, where you come from, appears to be working against the desire of Akpabio to go to the Senate. Why so? You see people like to twist facts. First, the governor is one big stakeholder in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. He can contest any election if he desires. The Senate thing is not even his desire but the major stakeholders in Ikot Ekpene held a meeting and in a public communiqué called on the governor to contest and represent the area in the Senate. The decision was taken by stakeholders from the entire federal constituencies in Ikot Ekpene. Now let’s go back to history. Ikot Ekpene senatorial slot has been rotating between Abak five axis and Ikot Ekpene axis, but you discover too that one federal constituency of Ukanafun/Oruk Anam has produced three senators in the past from Abak axis alone. That is Senators Donald Etiebet, Akanniyene Ukpana and Itak Bob Ekarika. In Ikot Ekpene axis, we have had Nsima Akpabio, Emmanuel Ibok Essien and Aloysious Etuk. But the
The industries the governor promised the people during his second term campaign are yet to be actualised. Has he changed his mind? That is not correct. The governor made it clear that industries will be built in the 31 local government areas working on the PPP model. As I speak to you, more than 83 expressions of interest have been received, up to 21 industries have been shortlisted for the development of industrial concern in different local government areas. As I speak to you, about five firms have commenced actual industrial development. The industrial programme is on course. Not that government will build factory and handover to people as gifts; that will not happen. Businessmen will have to join hands with government and access the Bank of Industry for the first N5 billion counterpart funding provided for people to access and develop industries using the PPP model. Industrial development is a serious business and not a jamboree and people must understand that.
Are cabinet members no longer Akwa Ibom people?... we took that action because it was our own thinking. Don’t forget it is not binding on anybody because it is the electorate that will decide