(Leadership Newspaper)
The opposition Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) on Sunday declared that the travails of the former governor of Akwa
Ibom State, Senaor Godswill Akpabio, was part of the plot by the current
administration to weaken the legislature and by extension the opposition ahead
of 2019.
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| Senator Akpabio |
The party also, said the ostentatious
thanksgiving of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr.
Babachir David Lawal, portrays the insensitivity of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), at a time the North-East geo-political zone was ravaged by
insurgency.
Akpabio was on Friday invited by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following a petition alleging
that he stole N108bn.
The Department of State Services
(DSS) had recently raided Akpabio’s residence in Akwa Ibom State government
house.
Addressing a press conference over
Akpabio’s arrest, the national publicity secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh, who
accused President Muhammadu Buhari of dictatorship, said “On the issue of
Senator Godswill Akpabio, we invite Nigerians to note that in the three rich
states of Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and Lagos states, there were petitions against
their former governors.
“Whereas the former APC governors of
Lagos and Rivers were rewarded with ministerial nominations, their Akwa Ibom
PDP counterpart and the current Senate Minority Leader is being hounded by the
EFCC.
“This is in spite of the common
knowledge that Akwa-Ibom under the Senator Akpabio is arguably the least
indebted state in Nigeria, and where the governor appropriately applied
available resources to effectively transform the state.
“We challenge the APC to show
Nigerians any of their governor that matched the feats achieved in Akwa-Ibom
under Senator Akpabio, whose only building in Uyo is uncompleted and being
built with verifiable bank loans.
“The PDP therefore state
categorically that the orchestrated investigation of Senator Akpabio is
politically motivated and targeted at weakening the PDP for 2019 elections, by
virtue of his being the face of opposition in the National Assembly.
“It is also part of the fight by the
Presidency to weaken the legislature as an arm of government and prevent it
from effectively carrying out its constitutional role of checks and balances in
a democracy.
“As we speak, no APC member, despite
the public petitions of corruption and squandering of state funds, has been
invited or questioned by the EFCC. We challenge the EFCC, as an anti-corruption
agency, to show Nigerians any member of the APC it has so far questioned, not
to talk of being arrested since the emergence of this administration, despite
petitions against them.
“Recall that even the case of former
Adamawa state Governor Murtala Nyako started before the advent of the current
administration but is now reportedly being worked on ostensibly to extricate
APC members involved.”
He further said while the PDP is not
averse to the anti-corruption crusade of the current administration, the
opposition spokesman, the “APC and its government have been busy denigrating
the PDP,” appropriating their achievements while at the same time blackmailing,
hounding and harassing our elected members with the aim to cow and force them
to leave the PDP and join their party.
“We have verifiable reports from our
key members that agents of the APC have been approaching them to join the APC
with threats to use the EFCC to victimize them should they refuse.
“The APC and its agents have been
boasting that they have the powers to deal with or spare any person, depending
on the party such person belongs to.
“This clearly explains why the
so-called fight against corruption has been selective and focused against PDP
members, despite counsels by stakeholders that it should be holistic and in
accordance with the due process of the law.”
He said if the APC led government had
found any incriminating evidence against Akpabio when DSS stormed the state
recently, they would have made it known.
“The issue is that if the agency
actually found anything in Akwa Ibom there will be euphoria. It would be
dramatized. If they have found anything we challenge them to produce it. As
long as they don’t do that they are fishing for information that they will
never get.”
He said the attack on Akpabio was a
disincentive, adding that they stand completely with the achievement of
Akpabio.
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