APC to PDP: A’Ibom people felt insulted by Akpabio’s comment that his wife produced Udom

The Akpabios

The opposition All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State has said that the people of the State felt insulted by the comment made by Governor Godswill Akpabio that it was his wife, Unoma that ‘produced’ the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the State, Udom Emmanuel.
The party was responding to an earlier press statement by the Udom-Moses Campaign Organisation which blamed the opposition party for the negative reactions that has trailed Governor Akpabio’s comment.

APC Campaign Organisation in the State said in a statement on Friday that Akwa Ibom people felt insulted by Akpabio’s comment and that the people went ahead to expressed their feelings in a variety of media, including Facebook, twitter, and online community forums.

The party said it cannot be made a scapegoat for what many people in the State found offensive, while dismissing as untrue the claim by the Udom-Moses Campaign Organisation that the party attacked the governor’s wife over the comment made by the governor. APC also rejected PDP’s imputation that the opposition party in the State was anti-women.

“The APC position is that Akwa Ibom people who so reacted to the governor’s statement did so within the context of fair comment on a matter of public interest. The APC also felt that Akwa Ibom people have a right to express their opinions on issues that affect their lives. We are in a free, democratic society where freedom of expression within the law is a given and respected,” said the statement which was signed by the Director of Publicity, APC Campaign Organisation, Mr. Iboro Otongaran.

APC said Governor Godswill Akpabio is yet to deny the statement which was credited to him in the Punch newspaper that his wife ‘produced’ the PDP governorship candidate, Mr. Udom Emmanuel. The party made reference to controversial statements attributed to the governor in the past.

“We would like to observe that this is not the first time the governor would make a statement in public only for his PR men to go on damage control because of adverse public reactions. They did so over the “Absalom statement,” the claim by the governor that he cancelled the name of a candidate in a senatorial election to replace him with a candidate of his (the governor’s) choice and the description of elders in the state as expired politicians.

“In the three previous instances, the governor’s PR men had tried to reposition what their boss said without making the APC or any other political party a scapegoat. We would like to advise that they follow their well-beaten path of damage control in the latest case and leave APC alone,” the statement said.