Akpabio’s alleged N2.5bn bribe to Akwa Ibom REC raises dust

The Akwa Ibom State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Obong Paul Ekpo, has taken a swipe at the rival All Progressives Congress (APC) over the claim by the latter that the petition of their governorship candidate is being frustrated by a bribe allegedly offered to Mr. Austin Okojie, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom, by the past governor of the South-South state, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
Ekpo, in a statement in Uyo, the state capital, described as false, spurious and baseless, the alarmist cry by the Akwa Ibom APC, accusing the former governor of N2.5 billion bribe.
It will be recalled that the counsel to Mr. Umana Okon Umana, the APC governorship candidate in the April 11 election and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Victor Iyanam, in a petition dated July 8 addressed to the Director-General of the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), accused Okojie of collecting the bribe from Akpabio to work against APC’s interest and that of its governorship candidate at the election tribunal.
Reacting to the allegation, Ekpo, who laughed it off, observed that while it was not necessary to join issues with the party, which he said is reputed to thrive on propaganda and blackmail, it was pertinent to set the records straight “so that the gullible and unsuspecting public is not misled and misinformed by the APC”.
The PDP boss said the bribe story only exists in the imagination of its authors and challenged the APC to present evidence of how the alleged sum of N2.5 billion was disbursed to INEC officials by the state government, through whom, and by what channel it was transmitted.
Ekpo berated the APC for what he termed its provocative acts of mudslinging, in a desperate bid to armtwist the Election Tribunal and influence its judgement.
The PDP Chairman reiterated his confidence in the tribunal “to protect the overwhelming mandate freely given by Akwa Ibom people to Governor Udom Emmanuel”, and charged the APC to allow a matter that was before the Tribunal to be sorted out legally.
Ekpo also disclosed that the PDP was aware that the DSS was quizzing some Akwa Ibom top INEC officials, noting that acts of intimidation and abuse of power were unnecessary in a democracy.
He, however, called on all PDP supporters “and the good people of Akwa Ibom State to remain steadfast and continue to support the PDP administration led by Governor Emmanuel in the state to deliver on its agenda of economic development, job and wealth creation, as well as industrialisation”.
In a related development, the counsel to PDP, Mr Paul Usoro (SAN), has revealed that INEC has made available in Abuja, electoral materials used in the conduct of the April 11 governorship polls in obedience to the tribunal order and that inspection and photocopy of materials have begun in earnest, wondering why people should peddle false information on a straight forward matter.
Usoro said, rather than engage in media propaganda and needless manipulation of public sentiments, the APC should concentrate on the kernel of her petition without denigrating individuals and institutions.