Umana: Akwa Ibom experienced ‘uncommon propaganda’ under Akpabio

Umana Umana, former secretary to Akwa Ibom state government and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the April 11 governorship election, has accused Godswill Akpabio, the immediate past governor of the state, of propagating falsehood during his time in office.

Akpabio, who is now the senator representing Ikot Ekpene senatorial district in the national assembly, steered the wheel of the state between 2007 and 2015.

Umana also accused Udom Emmanuel, Akpabio’s successor, of enjoying a “stolen mandate”, alleging that the will of the people was subverted during the last election.

He said stakeholders in the state had come together, irrespective of party affiliation, to “prevent one man from dictating the destiny of over 4 million people”.

“The level of impunity in Akwa Ibom has reached the stage where leaders, irrespective of political parties, had to come out to rescue the state,” he told reporters in Lagos.

“The leaders have come out to say enough is enough. We are out to rescue Akwa Ibom from the grips of the cabal led by Akpabio. Eminent leaders like Victor Atah, former governor of the state, who is a prominent member of the PDP, has also come out. Don Etiebiet, former minister of petroleum, also a member of the PDP, has come out to take a principled position on how our state can be rescued.

“It cannot be right for one man to impose his will on the entire state. He started with PDP through the imposition of Udom Emmanuel on the entire party and extended this during the election.”

Umana said if he had lost under a circumstance where the election was free and fair, he would have accepted the result in the interest of the state but noted that he was challenging the process in order to get justice for his people.

He said Akpabio boasted that he would take advantage of the system but expressed confidence that “the law would catch up with him”.

“If I had lost in a free and fair manner, I would have congratulated Udom Emmmanuel and moved on,” he said.

“People were not allowed to vote and somebody who is supposed to be the chief security officer of the state set up a private army, gave them buses to go round the state on election day to harass and intimidate voters. Some of those who resisted were even killed.

“If we don’t challenge what happened in Akwa Ibom, we would not be helping our country. We must challenge this for the sake of the survival of the country.

“Akpabio was once addressing a group and he said he knows the Nigerian system so well. He said ‘I know the judiciary and if I have to kill to win, I would do that and sit as governor. Let the other party go to court’.

“He said he knows that the case will linger from the tribunal to appeal and supreme court and at the end he would have finished his tenure before any definite ruling.

“The only way we can heal the wound and help the people recover from the psychological trauma is to seek redress at the tribunal and also hope that those who committed crime and electoral fraud would have their day in court.

“Our people deserve nothing else. It is not about me as a person but about the state. Whether one man can on his own decide the fate of over 4 million people and prevent them from exercising their rights in electing who to be their governor.”

When told that people outside the state may find it difficult to believe his allegations based on the general impression about Akpabio, Umana said: “That is the work of uncommon propaganda.”