Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State yesterday declared that he has no interest in the 2015 presidential race.
He also said that various posters in Abuja, linking him and Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State to the race, was the handiwork of mischief makers.
A statement by his Information Commissioner, Aniekan Umanna, reads: “The attention of the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has been drawn to sudden emergence of posters in some parts of Abuja, bearing his image and that of the Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema, for Presidency 2015.
“For the avoidance of doubt, His Excellency, Chief Akpabio clearly dissociates himself from the printing and circulation of these posters which is clearly the handiwork of mischief makers who are bent on heating up the polity for no reason whatsoever.
“We state emphatically that Governor Akpabio is not interested in the Presidency in 2015 and has not mandated anybody to campaign for him. His focus is on the completion of his Uncommon Transformation agenda which has changed the face Akwa Ibom State for good.
“In fact, he has made it very clear that based on the pressure by the good people of Akwa Ibom North West (Ikot Ekpene) Senatorial District, he wishes to represent them at the Senate in 2015.
“We urge the general public to completely ignore this mischief engineered by political jobbers and continue to support the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, in the arduous task of transforming this nation, Nigeria”.