...if am sitting on a seat and somebody is coming to remove me without consultation, I will hold on to the seat even if the seat want to break; Senator Aloysius Etok (above left), commenting on Gov. Godswill Akpabio’s ambition to unseat him as the Senator representing Ikot Ekpene District. The battle is now being fought in Abuja FCT
On
Wednesday 8 May 2013, campaign posters of Ibrahim Shema and Godswill Akpabio - Governors of
Katsina and Akwa Ibom States respectively - magically appeared on the streets of
Abuja promoting their intent to campaign for the 2015 presidential elections.
The
symbolism of the posters was not lost on anyone. In 2007, similar posters of another Katsina and
a south-south governor also appeared, except that, at that time, it was for
real; the controversial Yar’Adua-Jonathan ticket was being born.
If
we recall that Governor Rotimi Amaechi, another south-south governor, is currently
in hot water over campaign posters that link him with the Governor of Jigawa
State for the 2015 presidential election, you would very easily situate the
Shema-Akpabio example in its proper (political) context.
As
expected and in a bid to escape the “Amechi Problem,” Godwill Akpabio has
quickly distanced himself from the posters, claiming that they were "the handiwork
of mischief makers who are bent on heating up the polity for no reason
whatsoever.”
Err…,
Mr. Governor, there is a reason for this, if we examine the politics at play. We
can offer two or more possible explanations.
Could
it be Gov. Ibrahim Shema’s people muddying up the political waters by putting
Jonathan’s most consistent supporter on the spot? The posters could very easily
cast a loyalty shadow around Akpabio at Aso Rock, or worse, put him in the same hot water that Amechi has immersed himself.
Or
is this another clever ploy by Akpabio to use the posters as a platform to further
advance his bid to shove aside Senator Alloysius Etok and land a senate slot in
2015 for himself?
Or,
heavens forbid, could it be that Governor Akpabio means business and is only flying
a kite? After all, they often tell us that there are no permanent friends or foes in
politics.
Two
out of three, Akpabio appears to be the one engaged in skullduggery. Recall that in March, he stirred
up controversy by “confessing” that he scratched off the name of the winner in
the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial district and inserted the name of Senator Etok. The
controversy that erupted over this “undemocratic” activity apparently did not
achieve the intended effect – casting Etok as someone enjoying a stolen mandate
in Abuja! Instead, the governor received the backlash and I’m told he had to quickly
embark on a media relations blitz, to squelch the revolting news.
Will
the Abuja posters help him achieve the objective of getting the nation to talk
about his senatorial ambition? He is certainly not resting on his laurels. All
of a sudden, we also hear that “voters” of the accursed district, led by Senator Etoks
former campaign manager, have passed a vote of no confidence on their Senator, just as
the Shema-Akpabio posters were appearing in Abuja.
Whatever
it is, let us not lose sleep over this, my people. It is all politricks, designed to hoodwink the
unwary. Peace.
