Chairmen of 29 chapters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State have reaffirmed their support for the party’s governorship candidate, Obong Umana Okon Umana.
This was contained in a communique issued yesterday in Uyo, the state capital, by the party’s chairmen after a meeting under the auspices of the Forum of Local Government (Chapter) Party Chairmen of APC.
They denied a report that they had shifted support to the Labour Party (LP).
The chairmen described the publication, which was aired by Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation (AKBC) radio as the handiwork of political jobbers claiming to represent the APC Chapter Chairmen Forum but were deceiving the public.
They said the authors of the publication, Amah Joseph and Monday Jackson Akpan, were neither party members nor local government party chairmen, having been expelled for “anti—party activities”.
The communique said: “We reiterate our support and loyalty to APC and Obong Umana Okon Umana and stand fully, confident in our success at the tribunal.”
The APC chairmen rejected the outcome of the April 11, 2015 governorship elections in the state.
They expressed support for the party at the national and state levels, adding that the elections be cancelled.
The chapter chairmen said they were not unaware of the destructive tendencies and intrigues by Governor Godswill Akpabio to sabotage the chances of APC and its candidate, Umana, at the tribunal.
They noted that this was “to parade miscreants as local government party chairmen in the state and stage-manage a defection soap opera on AKBC in support of Udom Emmanuel (the PDP candidate)”.
The APC chairmen also dissociated themselves from a media briefing where congratulatory messages were sent to Udom Emmanuel as governor-elect.
They insisted that the April 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state were neither free nor fair, adding that those who addressed the briefing were neither members nor chapter chairmen of APC in the state.
The communiqué added: “They were impostors and hirelings of the PDP. Authentic chapter chairmen of the APC are those who signed the communiqués dated April 19, 2015.”
The party chairmen said it was shameful that those who claimed to have won elections were burdened by the crisis of legitimacy to the extent of going round to hire dishonourable men to congratulate them.
“Induced congratulatory messages and procured show of support will not be part of admissible evidence for defence at the tribunal,” the chairmen said.
They urged Emmanuel to prepare to defend his purported victory at the tribunal, adding that Akpabio should stop wasting the state’s scarce resources on frivolous congratulatory messages.
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