Targeting Akpabio

Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State

The confession by a band of assassins that they were recruited to kill Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State opens a new chapter in the political rivalry in the state
By Edward Dibiana
CLOSE watchers of the Nigerian polity will notice that a disturbing trend is gradually but steadily evolving in recent times. Going by reports and also allegations from some key government officials, internal insecurity is dangerously creeping into the corridors of powers in different states. Even Chief Security Officers in such states are not totally insulated from the ghastly plots of alleged evil merchants.
In Enugu, Ekiti, and Ogun States, government officials appear to have lost the luxury of a peaceful night rest as they bother themselves with what evil plots their adversaries are hatching. Allegations of assassination attempts have become a permanent feature in the tussle for supremacy and control of political power in several states.
For instance, both the legislative and executive arms of the Ogun State government have taken the ugly dance of allegations and counter allegations to the public domain. Just last week, while the state officials led by Dr. Yomi Majekodunmi, Chief of Staff to Governor Gbenga Daniel told a press conference that the governor was poisoned, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Tunji Egbetokun, accused Dr. Majekodunmi of attempting to eliminate him.
While the nation is still battling to comprehend the disturbing development in Ogun State, a similar situation is beginning to unfold in Akwa Ibom State.
A plot to assassinate the governor of the State, Godswill Akpabio, was uncovered by the police after one of the would-be assassins, Mathew Toduwa, who hails from Bomadi, Delta State was arrested.
In his confession, Toduwa, the leader of the murderous group and a native doctor, made more shocking revelations by alleging that an indigene of the state who is a well known top notcher of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) recruited his gang to eliminate the state governor for undisclosed reasons.
Reports indicate that the NDDC man and his killer-gang recruits had agreed to buy the services of militants in executing their evil plans. The militants, according to sources within the state, were billed to attack the governor at a public outing before 12 months from the date of his assumption of office as the executive governor of the state.
A stupendous fee of N600 million was allegedly paid for that purpose. The huge amount, the criminals who are currently cooling their feet at Force Headquarters, Benin City, Edo State, revealed, was an alleged grant to the militant elements.
When the assassins failed to deliver within the time frame agreed with their sponsor, the top establishment man expectedly became apprehensive and demanded that his criminal recruits refund his money. When the boys could not cough out the millions of naira, the alleged sponsor called in the police to assist him recover his money. But the table was to turn against him when, on interrogation, the criminals implicated him by revealing the nature of the job he had recruited them to do. Shocked by that revelation, the police in Delta State contacted the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Benin Zone, Ekpoudum.
Some persons in the know told The Source that what actually stalled the execution of the plot was the development of cold feet by one member of the gang who hails from Nsit Atai Local Government Area of the State. According to the tale, the gang member was swayed to drop out of the project by the number and quality of the road projects the Akpabio administration has executed in his area, especially the one linking his village. This particular gang member, according to the confession of the gang leader, was supposed to be their guide around the state since other members are from other neighbouring states.
Many believe that if a paid gunman would change his mind to kill Akpabio because of his achievements within one year in office, his government is no doubt a purposeful one. His deputy, Patrick Ekpotu, attested to this fact when he showered encomium on the governor during a recent interview.
Ekpotu said that Akpabio is a young man who came to office as a governor prepared from day one to improve the fortunes of the people of the state by aggressively executing his blueprint of massive and purposeful human and infrastructural developments.
Beginning from Uyo, the capital city, the Akpabio administration has kept its pre-election promises of transforming the capital to an impressive metropolis where economic and social development will explode into a veritable boom.
In changing the face of Uyo, over 13 projects were commissioned in Uyo senatorial district last May, including Ibom City Taxi Scheme which will gradually phase out the culture of okada (commerical motorbikes) in the capital city. Other projects are: Aka-Etinam Road, Oroh Road, with beautiful Street light, Nwaniba Road with street light, Ekpe Nkereuwem Close, Solar Tariff lights, Mobile Base Hostel blocks, NUJ Press Centre Water Scheme, Automated On-line Monitoring Centre, AKS Life Enhancement Mass Transit Scheme Trucks, Ambulances, NYSC Camp Road, Nsit Atai and Nung-Udoe-Ekpene Ukim Road.
Aside these, Governor Akpabio revealed last May that “about five road projects covering a total of about 203 kilometres are on-going in various parts of Uyo Senatorial district, spanning Uyo, Itu, Uruan, Ibiono Ibom, Ibesikpo Asutan, Nsit Ibom, Nsit Ubium local government areas. On the whole, during this first year in office, my administration has embarked on constructing a total of 330.3km of roads across the three senatorial districts of the state at a cost of more than N80billion.”
While these are going on, the Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort has been penciled down for expansion by adding 250 more rooms to the five-star hotel, while a highway from Calabar-Itu-Ikot-Epene through Ekom Iman to link Abak is under construction.
Akpabio and his team are not only concentrating their developmental drive in the cities alone. Several rural areas have also benefited from road, water, electricity and healthcare projects.
But inspite of these achievements recorded by the Akpabio administration within such a short period, followers of the Akwa Ibom State politics are worried that some vicious individuals are bent at discrediting the governor and his government. Some of these people, The Source was told, are disenchanted politicians who will not see any positive thing in the state government, perhaps because of peer rivalry. These people are said to have formed a league of petition writers who draw their strength from a minister who incidentally worked closely with Akpabio during his campaign and another two-term senator who also hails from the state.
But while the petition writers appear to be exercising their freedom of expression, others whose plot is to kill belong to a different class.
The huge amount allegedly invested in the failed assassination bid, some indigenes of the state argue, would be enough to touch the lives of many in the society. Ubong Akpan, leader, of the Akwa Ibom Justice Advocacy (AIJA), warned that government should prevail on the police to get to the root of the allegation as that would help in the fight against violence and militancy in the Niger Delta region.
As police authorities strive to ascertain the veracity of the confessions of the suspected assassins, Governor Akpabio continues his preachment of unity while driving the State out of the caves of poverty and underdevelopment