TheCable

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked Senate President Godswill Akpabio to dismiss the idea that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will produce the next governor in Akwa Ibom in 2027.

The opposition party is reacting to a recent comment by the senate president in which he said his party would reclaim Akwa Ibom in 2027.

While addressing APC leaders in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom, Akpabio said it will be “an aberration” if he does not ensure that the party produce a governor in 2027.

“Is it possible that Nigeria will give Akwa Ibom the number three citizen and at the end of the election, it will not produce an APC governor,” Akpabio had said.

But in a statement issued on Wednesday, Debo Ologunagba, PDP spokesperson, asked Akpabio to “perish the thought”.

“The scheme to use false claims and inciting comments to destabilise the state has already failed,” the statement reads.

Ologunagba said Akpabio should “come to terms with the fact that the people of Akwa Ibom state are firmly rooted in the PDP”.

He added that the people of the state cannot “be swayed by any agent of disunity, incitement, hatred and retrogression whose intention is to use propaganda and hate speeches to derail and appropriate the State for selfish interest”.

“The boast by Senator Akpabio to take over Akwa Ibom State in 2027 is not only pathetically empty but further exposes his level of arrogance and disdain for the sensibility, intelligence, democratic right and sovereignty of the people of Akwa Ibom State,” he said.

He urged the senate president to “leave Akwa Ibom State alone” and focus on the challenges of his office and allegations of corruption against him.

“Senator Akpabio should note that the office of the Senate President does not confer any form of immunity on him from investigation and/or prosecution. In any event, he must know that time does not run against the State in criminal matters,” Ologunagba said.

“Senator Akpabio should as a matter of public duty concentrate on attending to the plethora of allegations of corruption around him to justify the respect and integrity expected of the occupier of the office of the Senate President.”

The PDP spokesperson asked the people of Akwa Ibom to “disregard“ Akpabio’s “antics” and remain united in their determination to continue to build their stats under the PDP.