The suppressed anger among members of the All Progressives Congress is
about to reach a crescendo Global Pilot can authoritatively report.
According to our investigations, the party is in deep crises as it has
been factionalized into three prominent groups with Obong Nsima Ekere,
Senator John Udoedeghe and Senator Nelson Effiong as main gladiators.
According to our findings, the three main gladiators are not ready to
shift ground as they represent diverse interest in the party.
For
instance, while Nsima Ekere feels he should be the sole candidate for
the governorship contest against the PDP candidate, Senator Udoedeghe
represents the neglected members of Action Congress of Nigeria (one of
the parties that forms the present day APC) while Senator Nelson Effiong
is flying the Oro flag in the party.
Apart from the interest
each political actor represents, there is growing discontentment among
members of the party as a result of unfulfilled promises made to them by
the party.
It was learnt in the course of investigation that despite
the closeness of Senator Udoedeghe to Senator Bola Tinubu he is yet to
get one federal appointment for members of the old ACN who bore the
pains of nursing what is today known as APC in the state.
The painful
part of it is the recognition and appointment of those who decamped from
PDP in December 2014 and some card carrying members of PDP into federal
government parastatals while they continue in their endless wait two
years after APC formed government at the centre.
On the other hand, the
Managing Director of NDDC, Mr. Nsima Ekere who has turned the commission
into a bait for hungry and greedy politicians is under severe attack
from the media wing of the party.
It was gathered that the
promise of a well-equipped media resource centre is yet to be kept as
promised while the promise of a laptop and other work tool for
journalists working for the party is yet to be fulfilled seven months
after his appointment.
The media team led by the Publisher of The Guide
newspaper, Mr. Emmanuel Sam last Thursday at NDDC stakeholders’ meeting
held at Daaty Hotel Ewet Housing Estate in Uyo, threatened to boycott
all Nsima Ekere’s function since he has proven to be a very unreliable
political leader.
“Few weeks ago, we went on project inspection and at
the end of the exercise, nothing was given to journalists in that team,
now seven months after he resumed office he is yet to empower any
journalist working for him and the party. We cannot be fighting Udom for
free while others come to enjoy the fruits of our labour.
We expected a
change in APC where those who labour will be rewarded but the story
remains the same, same cheating, same neglect” he fumed at the
stakeholders meeting which had in attendance the commissioner
representing Akwa Ibom in NDDC Mr. Samuel Frank.
Some
politicians who joined APC upon the appointment of Nsima Ekere as
Managing Director of NDDC have expressed regrets that they made the
worst political mistake as they are yet to see any difference in the new
party.
According to one of them who spoke to Global Pilot on condition
of anonymity, their hopes of becoming NDDC contractors have been dashed
from the very beginning with Nsima Ekere playing hide and seek with NDDC
contracts.
“He is telling us that we cannot execute a multi- million
naira contract, yes agreed but as noted in the communiqué, let NDDC
adopt the crowd contractors model where big contracts are shared by
milestones to many small contractors.
We will not run with him in 2019
in an empty stomach and he should know his tenure ends in 2018” he
disclosed.
Political pundits believe this level of disenchantment
will provide PDP the needed boost ahead of 2019 general elections.
According to them, the defection in the state will not affect the
fortune of the party in the state following internal bickering in the
party.
Culled from Sitippe Ke AkwaIbom
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