FULL TEXT OF THE FORUM OF CHAPTER CHAIRMEN/STAKEHOLDERS OF THE APC ON THE ELECTIONS IN AKWA IBOM STATE

FULL TEXT OF A PRESS CHAT BY THE FORUM OF CHAPTER CHAIRMEN/STAKEHOLDERS OF THE ALL PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS, APC ON THE ELECTIONS IN AKWA IBOM STATE, HELD AT THE VENUS HOTEL, UYO ON TUESDAY APRIL 28, 2015

NOW THAT AKWA IBOM PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!

Compatriots, after a long and arduous political campaign, the good people of a state conceived by our forebears to be driven by unity, brotherhood and Godliness have come spoken and they have spoken clearly. Let us put it on record that we in APC came into the elections with full intentions to convince and win the hearts of Akwa Ibom people and to emerge victorious. That was why we engaged in several electioneering campaigns across all the local government areas of the State. In their response, the people have not spoken the way we wanted, but they have spoken all the same and we believe in the popular Roman aphorism, “Vox populi, vox Dei” (the voice of the people, is the voice of God).

We wish to use this medium to congratulate our then Presidential Candidate and President-Elect, General Mohammadu Buhari, GCFR on his victory at the Presidential poll. We pray the Almighty God to strengthen him in the discharge of the onerous task of running the affairs of our dear country.

We also salute the state-manly act of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, for accepting defeat and congratulating the President-Elect even before the announcement of the final result of the Presidential election.

We, though committed members and LGA chapter chairmen of the All Progressives Congress, therefore, consider it both a moral duty and a patriotic obligation to identify with Mr. Udom Emmanuel, the elected Governor of Akwa Ibom State- a State we all love. His victory commands our respect and breathes hope into the Akwa Ibom dream. We pray God to give him the grace to take our dear state to the next level.

We also commend the heroics of candidates who ran the race with Mr. Emmanuel, particularly our candidate Obong Umana Okon Umana of the All Progressives Congress. Politics is about variety and their presence in the race brought different perspectives to the Akwa Ibom project and should serve as a useful resource base in directing the course of leadership in the state.

We urge politicians in our country to emulate the wind of politics without bitterness initiated by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, when he congratulated the President-Elect General Mohammadu Buhari. We should not only congratulate Mr. Udom Emmanuel on his hard-fought victory, but commit themselves to work with him to make our state a better place.

We are happy that the elections, despite few hitches, were substantially free and fair and a reflection of the will of the people. We believe that there were no winners or losers in the exercise, because it was a family affair. We urge all political parties and politicians to accept the will of the people and begin the process of healing the wounds of the campaign season, instead of embarking on unnecessary litigations and deepening the wounds of the campaign period. As grassroot leaders of our party, we can categorically confirm that elections were largely credible and the outcome reflects the opinion of the majority of the populace in our respective local government areas.

On this note, we hereby salute our dear Governor, His Excellency Chief Godswill Akpabio on his meritorious services to the state, which is no doubt, the reason for his election as the Senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District. We heartily congratulate the Governor – Elect of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel and the elected members of the National Assembly from the State, on their overwhelming victory. We equally congratulate all elected Members of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and urge all of them to be reminded that to whom much is given much is expected. Let them remember that they are holding in trust, the mandate of the people and therefore must work hard to justify the confidence reposed in them by the people.

We make these submissions in good faith and congratulate all Akwa Ibom people on the birth of the new dawn in our polity. We urge all Akwa Ibom people to keep Mr. Emmanuel, our next governor, in their prayers, particularly as he commences the critical task of picking a team to work with him in his leadership of the state.

Finally, we wish to state that we are aware of the numerous allegations on the activities of Ibom Democratic Movement, IDM, which tended to work against the interest of our party, and we are reviewing these ignoble actions with a view to taking further actions in due course. We therefore urge all our supporters and party faithful to remain peaceful and supportive to the incoming federal and state government in order to attract more developments to the state.

God bless Akwa Ibom State!
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!