Former Deputy Inspector General of Police and All Progressives Congress senatorial candidate for Akwa Ibom North-West, DIG Udom Ekpoudom (retd), has dismissed as ridiculous rumours that he has stepped down for Senator Godswill Akpabio.
He threatened to be chased off the land if he stepped down.
Ekpoudom stated that despite the pressure, he would never succumb to it because it would be seen as betraying his people.
The retired DIG, who spoke on Friday in his office in Ediene, Abak Local Government Area, in response to allegations that some elders had persuaded him to step down for Akpabio, said his senatorial ambition was not his personal project, but rather the project for the redemption of Abak’s five communities, which have had no representation in the National Assembly for the past 16 years.
“It is laughable to say that I stepped down for anyone, some people have been appealing to me to step down but I have been saying no, and will continue to say no because it is not my project precisely but the peoples’ project. I don’t want to be pushed out of the Abak Federal Constituency.
“I don’t want to betray my people, you can even imagine now, for 16 years this part of Akwa Ibom has not produced a senator, it is only Ikot Ekpene which had produced five senators and somebody wants to come in again, it is not possible. Abak-5, or the entire Ikot Ekpene senatorial district, is ready. I see those who have come to tell me to resign as enemies of the Abak federal constituency.
“Even if they offer me the position of head of state, I will decline. All I want is to reclaim what is rightfully ours. If Abak loses now, it will have ramifications for the entire federal constituency and senatorial district.”
Senator Godswill Akpabio, the proprietor of Tower of Ivory Schools in the state, has been described as a “desperate politician who has turned deaf ears to the voices of prominent stakeholders, including Don Etiebet, who has advised him not to contest,” according to Ekpoudom.
“That’s how desperate my brother is; he has the right to do whatever he wants,” he explained. If I were him, I wouldn’t go because he has turned himself into an enemy of the Abak people, which isn’t good. Don Etiebet is someone we respect in Akwa Ibom; if someone like that talks to him and he doesn’t hear, who will talk to him and he will hear?”
In terms of his plans for the district, the former DIG promised to address the district’s high level of poverty if elected.
“I want to alleviate my people’s poverty and suffering. My people are so impoverished that they do not live as if they are in Nigeria. They only sent people there to enrich themselves. Look at my youths, who are moving around like nomads because there is no work for them. “Something must be done,” he continued.
