There can’t be any government as bad as Akpabio's - General Akpan

Gen. Edet Akpan (pictured aboved), in an interview with EDOAMAOWO UDEME, speaks on his controversial ‘arrest’ by the Department of State Security in Akwa Ibom State, and his relationship with Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio, the immediate past governor of the state.

Good evening Sir, I am here to ask you about the story making rounds that you were caught with some ballot boxes thumb printing in your house, arrested and detained by the SSS, can you clarify this?

 

Edoamaowo, it was interesting to read that, I also read the same stories.  Governorship and House of Assembly elections were held all over the country on April 11 2015.  Normally, I vote in my village, so I was at home early on that day, I went to my unit to cast my vote, I thought that it will be normal voting but as soon as I got there, some hoodlums numbering about 30 to 40 came and in a split second, carted away materials and the INEC Adhoc staff and disappeared, I was embarrassed, I decided to go back home, make phone calls and make my report to the security agencies to tell them what happened. When I got to my house, I found a lot of people in my compound, I made enquiries and was told that rival youth groups in my ward were fighting to carry away materials from the pooling centers.

 

Is it the ward in your residential area Uyo, or in your village in Nsit Atai?

 

In my village, I normally vote in my village and not in Uyo. So on enquiry, I was told that rival youth groups fought with the others that came to carry the materials and succeeded in carrying it away and thought that if they entered my compound, the materials will be safe and my compound will give them security. Of course, I was angry, l condemned it, while still speaking and barely 2 minutes or so,  some combined team of security agents came to my house, and I explained what happened, that I went to cast my vote even though I couldn't cast, they could see with me that I wasn't in the house,  I only just got back. So we agreed that we should take the materials and the Adhoc staff that were abducted back to their various units to continue their elections.  that’s what we did, but then the security team advised me that  that occasion will be incidented and they advised that I should go to the Directorate of the State Security in Uyo and make a  statement which according to them "to exonerate” myself,  I said fine, I agreed and went there

 

So you were not actually arrested, handcuffed and locked up as widely reported?

 

No, no, no, I wasn't arrested, I read the report that AIG arrested me, it never happened, I went to the DSS in my car to make formal documentation of what happened in my ward, I did and they apologized to me because they kept me fir sometime, it was not deliberate I had to wait because most of their senior officers were not in when I got there. They Okayed me to go home but while I was about to, I was told that orders from above says I should be held and not released to go home, I asked them to reveal who gave the orders, and was told that Professor Jega, INEC Chairman, says so. I was curious, I wondered how Jega with thousands of the electoral offences across the country, pick the one in my ward and asked for my detention. I was held illegally. 

 

What further step did you take when you were held?

 

I knew that I was being held illegally, and I know my rights that they cannot keep me more than 48 hours without taking me to court so I asked my lawyers to go to court and find out if INEC has indeed registered any case against me because they had a duty that if they took me to the detention,.p they must take me to court for the "crimes" I committed.  I was told that neither INEC nor the courts have any charges against me, but because I am a Christian, I took the detention with equanimity while praying for my God who always hears my prayers. They decided not to give me administrative bail because of the so- called orders from above. So I said I am going to court to get my bail which I did. I owe nobody anything except my God

 

 

How many days were you held?

 

Almost 4 days

 

 

A couple of days after the incident, Governor Akpabio appeared on Channels Television accusing you of the same offence, how do you react to that?

 

 

I don’t want to say same offence because there was no offence, INEC never said I committed an offence, SSS did not say so, the Police did not say so, the first time I heard that I committed any offence was when my Governor, Akpabio went on Channels TV that I was arrested and that people were thumb printing with me in my house, it was so embarrassing because it was not Akpabio who should make this statement, it should be either INEC, the Police or the SSS. I was greatly embarrassed that it was my own governor that went on air to say what he didn’t knows about. I thought he was at his unit either at the government house or his village in Essien Udim LGA, to vote where unfortunately, I was not even accredited talk less of voting

 

First it was your kidnap, now this, why are you a victim of Akpabio's government?

 

I truly don’t know why Akpabio has gone extra mile to mess me up, he really has no reasons, I haven't fought his government, I have been a common citizen living mu normal life, I don’t know why he has tried to destroy me, my image and what I have stood for but I know that he knows that I have refused to compromise with him or his government

 

Has he one way or the other tried to bribe you?

 

 I don’t know about bribe if he had planned that, I am not aware but he knows that I can’t be bribed

 

Has he tried to have you on his side whether he does wrong or right?

 

I have always known that Akpabio hasn’t been comfortable with me because he can’t compromise me, I know that all his antics are to make me feel bad because he knows I am not such a man that can be pocketed

 

 There is an assumption that you are now with APC and no more with PDP, did you decamp?

 

That is one of the things that people are talking about and they don’t know the true picture.  I used to be in PDP, I am a foundation member of PDP in this state,  I was one of the conveners of PDP in this state, but by the time the present leadership of the party rubbished the elders of the party, I didn’t feel comfortable with it, they invited me to join the party caucus but the way they rubbished elders and ran the party as if nobody mattered, I decided that I would no longer be involved in partisan politics, that was a long time ago, I said I would stay out of partisan politics and I have done that till now, I never joined the APC up till now, so I was amused when I heard that I was rigging election for APC, What I did and I told all the people in my Local Government was that they should be prepared to defend their votes and ensure that all the pooling units are secured that nobody should be allowed to carry away election materials, that they are very free to vote for whoever they wanted, I didn't care whom they will vote for but let there be proper voting.

 

Between Udom Emmanuel and Umana Umana, who do you think is eligible to be governor of Akwa Ibom State?

 

No that is not my decision, it's the decision of the electorates, these are two eminent Ibibio sons, I don’t care who won, but whoever God ordained to be Governor, I stood by that, and the people were to decide that, that’s why I told people in my Local Government to be free to vote for whomsoever and also defend their votes. No government can be as bad as the present one of Godswill Akpabio who had tried everything to make sure that Ibibio race is embarrassed and extinguished. These two sons are Ibibio sons so, I didn't care whoever emerged. There can’t be any government as bad as Akpabios.

 

In the same vein, Barrister Andem Ndem also accused you even of hoisting a flag in your compound, if you did, what flag did you hoist?

 

Honestly,  I was amused,  until I heard from Andem Ndem's appearance in Channels TV, I never knew that party officials do hoist flags in their houses, even as a Retired General, I don’t hoist the national flag in any of my residences,  I don’t even know who does that , it never crossed my mind.

 

You mean you didn't hoist a party flag in your compound?

 

How can I do that? It never happened!  I have not known a friend who has done that in his personal house so it was like madness to read that General Akpan hoisted a flag of any party for that matter, Edoamaowo, you have been to this house severally, have you ever seen any flag not even the national flag hoisted? It’s crazy, it is a fabrication.

 

With Akpabio and Andem's accusations, what is your response? 

 

Andem is a lawyer but I don’t know who's paying him to say these things or what mission he is up to for him to fabricate stories that I hoisted a flag. I doubt very much that he knows my house in the village, he said so many other things including that I was thumb printing for APC and that I was arrested by the AIG

 

 

That is why I asked you that question in the first place

 

 

I never joined APC since I said I will be non-partisan in politics I kept away from PDP and haven’t changed my mind about joining any other party for that matter, so for Andem to fabricate the flag story and that people were thumb printing in my house is quite amusing, I was not even given the privilege to thumb print for my candidate at the polling unit legally. During the presidential election, I was accredited, asked to go home and return to vote at 1.30 pm but by the time I returned to vote, hoodlums had come and carted away all the materials so I couldn’t even vote for anybody, the Governorship and House of Assembly elections was worse because by the time I went for accreditation, the hoodlums came and carted away all the materials, I was not even accredited let alone thumb print. So for anybody to claim that General Akpan took people to his home to thumb print is the craziest thing for anybody to say, its madness, why would they make such fabrications, at my age why would I do that? For who? and for what purpose? Of course I didn’t, those are the things I condemn.

 

You were in court today, (22nd May 2015) , what was the court ruling as regards the accusations?

 

Like I said earlier,  up till now, INEC, SSS, Police have not placed any charges on me, the only time I heard of my charges was from Akpabio and Andem no other agency has placed any charge on me. So, today, because they all know I wasn’t involved in the election malpractice, I wasn’t surprised that no agency came forward to prosecute the case since they have no evidence,  no witnesses.  I am happy that INEC did not try to fabricate stories but even if they did, I am alive, I know what I did and I will always defend myself. We thank God that the Judge ruled and dismissed the case for want of evidence because INEC couldn't come forward because they had none. I have been vindicated.

 

Now that you have been exculpated, what do you have to say to Gov Akpabio and Barr Andem?

 

I have handed them over to my lawyers because you cannot get up from nowhere and scandalize, fabricate and destroy people,  Look, I am 74, by this December I will be 75, I had taken so much trouble to create an image for myself to make a name in my country, I have served my country so if any young man wakes up and thinks that he can destroy what I stand for must be a joker, my lawyers will handle that because they have clearly come out to scandalize and fabricate stories against  me, my lawyers will take it up from here

 

General Buhari's victory automatically puts Akwa Ibom State in place of opposition being a PDP State, considering the fact that you were once a PDP stalwart, what do you think about this?

 

There is no problem about that, I believe that for Nigeria to have a proper democracy, we need a viral opposition, now that PDP is opposition,  they must have a taste of what it takes if they want to build a proper democracy, they must accept their role and provide the kind of opposition that APC government need. You cannot in government all the time, I am looking forward to the next four years of real change, the change we had all prayed for because it was like there was so much impunity in Nigeria, the governors and the people at the center thought they could do whatever they liked as nobody held them accountable.  Now there is a change and it’s not just because Buhari is a General in the Nigerian Army like I am, He had shown in the past that he can change this country, he can actually change the image of Nigeria as the world sees us as a corrupt country about to destroy itself. I believe he can do it and we all have to support him to make this change. So I really don’t mind the fact that Akwa Ibom State became opposition, we didn’t even vote here but I do hope PDP will get the message and provide effective opposition at the center

 

Why do you think PDP failed even when there was rigging claims in Akwa Ibom State ?

 

Oh! It was very clear I am a founding member of PDP in this state,  there is God, there is time for everything, even when Akpabio and his cohorts did not allow elections to hold in this state, God decided to make a change for Nigeria because all what we see in the physical,  there is a spiritual angle to it, God has decided to help Nigeria,  to take us out of the mess we were into when governors and official did whatever they wanted with impunity without caring what happens to the citizenry, God decided to come down and salvage Nigeria

 

 

What is your final word for the Akwa Ibomites about your accusations?

 

I am happy that God has blessed me with our people who love me so much, they know I stand for principles and I cannot be compromised. Just last week, opinion poll was conducted by one local paper talking to the commoners about me and so many people condemned what was done to me, some say they know me for integrity, I am happy that they know me that much, I just want to use this medium to thank them. I was never maltreated by those that detained me. At DSS, they treated me with extreme and utmost respect. I want to assure them that I am fine and well, and will always stand, defend and fight for the truth.

 

It was nice speaking with you General

 

Thank you.

Culled from Ibom Forum