Former Governor of Akwa Ibom, Sen. Godswill Akpabio has dispelled concerns that the state could become a “battleground” during the 2019 election because of his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Akpabio, who was a two-term Governor and Senate Minority Leader under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said more than 300,000 Akwa Ibom people defected to the APC within six weeks of his defection.
The ex-governor, who spoke to Vanguard, disclosed that he learnt that many of those people were already sympathetic towards the APC before he decided to join the party.
He stressed that as many residents of the state already joined the party of their own will, there would be no need for any fighting.
He said, “APC had taken over Akwa Ibom even before I joined the party. By the time I decided to join APC, by the time I landed at the airport, the whole airport was APC. The whole of the airport to the town was APC. The whole of the plaza in Uyo was APC, the jubilation was infectious. Women and men were bringing their brooms from under their bed, which means they had been hiding them because of me and they were sweeping the roads. A distance of 20 minutes took us over two hours to cover because of the jubilation. I was now saying that so all these people belong to APC. When I asked them, they said, “Sir, after you left office, the situation wasn’t the same again. We have moved to APC”. And I asked them when, and they said since 2015. If you ask the APC headquarters, they will tell you that we have over 300,000 card-carrying members who joined the party within six weeks. When I hear that Akwa Ibom is going to be a battleground, I laugh because there is no battleground in a state that has already shown direction. I can confidently confirm to you that the first state President Buhari will win within three hours of voting is Akwa Ibom. It is not because of me but because of the change that the Federal Government has started. The reason I am being attacked is just because I am a leader here and a lot of people came out boldly to associate with APC when I joined, but the people have rejected PDP before I declared for APC.”
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