Akpabio mortgaged Akwa Ibom treasury, says APC

Mr. Godswill Akpabio

By Kazeem Ibrahym

Akwa Ibom State All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused former Governor (now Senator) Godswill Akpabio of mortgaging the treasury to a popular new generation bank.

In a statement yesterday in Oyu, the state capital, by its Publicity Secretary, Ita Awak, the party said Governor Udom Emmanuel was recruited from the bank and foisted on Akwa Ibom because of what it called a “secret” agreement between Akpabio and “his partners” to allegedly enslave the people.
APC noted that since Emmanuel became governor, his administration had not told the people how much debt it inherited.
The party said Emmanuel had not informed the lawmakers what the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government under Akpabio owed commercial banks.
It stressed that despite the anomaly, the state government was seeking approval for the restructuring of outstanding debts owed commercial banks into Federal Government bonds.
APC said: “We know that the Akpabio government received over N3 trillion in eight years. It is, therefore, baffling that Emmanuel should be talking of restructuring our debts into bonds that would be repaid in 15 to 20 years.”
The party faulted the appointment of Mr. Linus Nkan, from Zenith Bank, as the state’s Accountant-General.
It said the hasty manner Nkan was recruited could not be in the interest of Akwa Ibom State residents.
APC said: “We strongly question the rationale why Mr. Nkan was recruited, made a director and appointed A-G, whereas the Akwa Ibom State civil service has a rich pool of highly qualified accountants in the rank of ‘directors’, who would have been made the Accountant-General.”
The party urged Emmanuel to tell Akwa Ibom residents how much the Akpabio administration was owing financial institutions.
The party appealed to the governor to tell the people how much Akpabio left in the treasury as at May 28.

Culled from The Nation