Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State on Wednesday paid tribute to late politician and business mogul, MKO Abiola saying that “Abiola watered the democracy we are enjoying today, just as he debunked for the umpteenth time that he rigged election in favor a member of the National Assembly.
Akpabio said what is often referred to as rigging was indeed a pre-primaries consultations and preparation of a suitable aspirant,which was done to protect the interest of the people of Ini and Ikono Local Governments of the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, who are in the minority with only two councils.
The governor made the declaration in a speech delivered at the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections organized by the June 12 Movement at the Toyin Street, Ikeja residence of the Abiola’s and chaired by a prominent Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo.
Represented by his Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr Aniekan Umanah, Akpabio declared that, he needed to clear the wrong impression “because of the campaign of calumny against him and to put the record straight on what happened before the senatorial election in my state. I did not rig any election and in fact, I have never and will never rig any election because I am a product of free and fair elections, which Chief Abiola stood, fought and died for.”
According to Akpabio, “Abiola paid the supreme price. He died so that we may live and savor the joy of a free people. Freedom which is concomitant with democracy is not negotiable. It is an inalienable right of every human being. That is what Abiola fought and died for and we must not allow that death to be in vain. We must continue to engage our leaders until our collective dignity as a people are fully realized and restored,”
Speaking further, Akpabio said “because democracy cannot be said to have thrived without its fruits which are democracy dividends, my administration in the last six years did its best to live MKO’s dream of a better society for Nigerians by turning around the living conditions of my people for good.
‘There is free and compulsory education from primary to secondary school, free medical treatment for pregnant women, children of age 0 to 5 and the aged, we have constructed over 1,200 kilometers of roads across the length and breath of the state with four flyovers and a brand new international airport to assist in our tourism drives among numerous infrastructural concerns.”
Chief Akpabio said he has similarly empowered far more 4,500 women, trained and developed youth in Agriculture and commenced a programme that will lead to the industrialization of the State. He called on leaders in the country to continue to hold own to democratic values knowing that they owe their mandate to the people.
Some key personalities who graced the occasion were speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Hon Abike Dabiri, Alhaji Yerima Shetima, President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum,Comrade Joe Evah, and Coordinator Ijaw Monitoring Group, among others.
