Akwa Ibom State governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has stated that the registration of opposition merger party, All Progressives Congress (APC) is a welcome development for the Nigerian polity, saying the PDP would be happy to work with the new party, which he said would be like any other political party.
This is just as he called on the Nigerian press to focus on things that unite the nation rather than concentrate on attacks on personalities and individuals.
“I welcome the registration of APC and any other political party. The beauty of democracy is the opportunity given to all and sundry to partake in the democratic process and as for the PDP, we won’t want only one party in Nigeria, rather we love opposition and we look forward with working with APC.
“PDP is fully attained and we are working hard to ensure that we rise to the occasion in the power sector, other infrastructure and industrialisation such as the recent plans on Ibaka Deep Seaport in the state. And of course you can see the various industries that have begun to return to Nigeria. Let us worry about governance and not the formation of political party; for it is not the beginning of a journey that matters but how to get to the end”.
Akpabio said these while fielding questions from Government House correspondents in Uyo, in reaction to an editorial published in The Nation newspapers entitled “the tin god of Akwa Ibom,” warning newspapers to live aboard by focusing on issues that could unite the nation rather than denigrating individuals.
“I am happy that the state government had responded to The Nation newspapers on their editorial comment which was not a true reflection of who I really am. People were even commenting on the change of the immediate past Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Umana Okon Umana, who made history as the longest serving officer in this part of the world right from 1979 till date and has served the state meritoriously.
“So, making a change in that office is for the state to move forward in style,” he said.
Speaking on the Methanol Industry to be established at Ibaka Deep Seaport, Chief Akpabio disclosed that the process that would lead to the commencement of the work had already started, saying that the state government had released funds for the production of feasibility studies and environmental impact assessment.
According to him, the government had commenced the study of the water to locate the 40,900 hectares of land for the entire industrial city, which he said they had already started and a physical structure would soon start, pointing out that to complete the design, they have to do a lot of work with other procedures as the work is ongoing.
Commenting on the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government, the governor, who explained that the company had to sign an MoU with other government agencies, as the state government would be one of the facilitators of Ibaka Deep Seaport, stressed that as a Federal Government and a private sector-driven project, the Federal Government through Nigerian Port Authority might want to invest in the land and other things.
He further said CCECC would sign a MOU with not only the state government but also with the Federal Government which, he said, would require presidential assent, as their interest was to fund the project by keying into the other interests that involve foreign corporation in the deep seaport.
