By Ofonime Honesty
Contemporary goings-on in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly are proving right the doomsday theory that there is an orchestrated agenda of subtracting Uyo Federal Constituency from the political equation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State.
The trend
did not start today; it predates the present political setup. However,
the refusal or inability of the present crop of PDP stakeholders to
rectify the perceived anomaly leaves much to question.
Worried
by the foregoing, in March 2016, I penned the first part of this piece
wherein I questioned the wisdom behind the withdrawal of the Speakership
slot given to Uyo. Yours truly decried that despite Uyo’s position as
the largest political bloc in the state, the entity has been rendered
politically impotent in the PDP.
While sane members perused the
writeup and decoded the sense therein, our political ‘gurus’ threw (and
are still throwing) caution to the winds. Exactly one year later, they
are at it again.
For peaceful coexistence to be achieved in any
political setup, internal democracy must be a norm. Consensus agreements
reached within the party must be respected. Doing otherwise can lead to
crisis.
Days ago, the duo of Hon. Aniekan Bassey of Uruan (Uyo
Federal Constituency) and Hon. Nse Essien of Onna (Eket Federal
Constituency) were recently controversially relieved of their duties as
Deputy Leader and Deputy Chief Whip, in the Akwa Ibom State House of
Assembly.
With the relegation of Hon. Aniekan Bassey to the rear,
Uyo has lost the last man standing. Uyo must now bow to others. Uyo
political office holders must not enjoy privileges and goodies like
their counterparts. Most importantly, Uyo must not be part of decision
making process of the party.
Lending his voice to this issue,
the member representing Uyo Federal Constituency in the House of
Representatives, Hon. Mike Enyong, recently stated inter-alia: “Recall
that Ibiono/ Itu and Etinan Federal Constituencies had un-interrupted
tenures in the Speaker’s position.
When this position moved to Uyo Fed.
Constituency, election of the Occupant of the Office was nullified. The
House in its wisdom elected a speaker from Etinan Fed Constituency and
consoled Uyo Fed. Constituency with Deputy leadership of the House.
“With a record of singularly contributing more than 200,000 electoral
votes to a table of about 1Million votes, out of Ten Federal
Constituencies in Akwa Ibom State, Uyo Federal Constituency comprising
four (4) Local Government Areas, naturally feels politically excluded
and under-represented in decision making processes.
“This feeling
is further aggravated by recent re-shuffling of principal positions in
the House. In these circumstances, it is expedient to erase this feeling
of political exclusion depressing Uyo Federal Constituency by breathing
a fresh air of political inclusion to calm nerves of the people of my
Constituency.”
Hon. Mike Enyong has not minced words. I
appreciate his bluntness. And let the masterminds of these acts of
impunity realize that repercussions are imminent.
To conclude, a
visit to the archive will suffice. Dear readers, lets consume excerpts
from the first part of this piece published a year ago.
“Chief
Godswill Akpabio during the dying days of his reign as Governor of Akwa
Ibom State invariably popularized what later metamorphosed into a
controversial slogan ‘Oh! Uyo!’
“Barely a couple of years later,
contemporary happenings in Akwa Ibom political terrain have seemingly
resurrected that notorious exclamation.
“Constituents of Uyo
Federal Constituency are wailing and exclaiming “OH UYO!” with renewed
ferocity.
Their constituency has been subtracted from the political
equation of Akwa Ibom out of sheer political miscalculation, greed and
ignorance of possible consequences . The constituency has again been
labeled as a big-for-nothing entity.
When Eket Senatorial
District made a case that they be given a chance at governorship, it’s
on record that chieftains of Uyo Federal Constituency led by Prince Uwem
Ita Etuk were the first and only federal constituency to advocate for
equity and justice against Obong Bassey Albert who contested from Itu
Federal constituency and Umana Okon Umana from Etinan Federal
Constituency who fought up to the Supreme Court even after Udom Emmanuel
was elected and sworn in as Governor.
Now that it’s Uyo Federal
Constituency’s turn to have a shot at Speakership after Itu and Etinan
Federal Constituencies had taken their turns, WHY HAS THE SAME EQUITY
AND JUSTICE BEEN SUPPRESSED?
“I expected people like Prince Uwem
Ita Etuk, Enobong Uwah, Sir Val Attah, Prince Godwin Ntukude, Tony Akan,
Hon. Mark Esset and Otuekong Rapheal who are self acclaimed political
leaders of Uyo Federal Constituency to speak out but to my chagrin they
cannot rise in defense of Uyo Federal Constituency.
“And I
repeat, OH! UYO, WHERE ARE YOUR PROPHETS? Does it mean that Dr. Godswill
Akpabio knew what will befall Uyo Federal Constituency?
“From the foregoing, the salient questions which pop up are:
“From the foregoing, the salient questions which pop up are:
1. With this marginalization, will Uyo Federal constituency support Eket Senatorial District Governorship slot again in 2019?
2. Will they allow Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District to retain the Deputy
Governorship position in 2019? I have foreseen a big crack in PDP in
2019 if this issue is not properly addressed by the ruling party in the
state.
This is the time to build and not to marginalize a strong
support base like Uyo Federal Constituency.
A stitch in time saves
nine.”
May I pause awhile.
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