APC chieftain faults Umoren’s appointment as A’Ibom SSG

Mr. Udom Emmanuel

By Etim Ekpimah

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Ita Awak, has described the appointment of Mr. Eteakamba Umoren as Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government as a continuation of Godswill Akpabio’s marginalisation of the Oro ethnic group in the state.

Awak, who expressed the confidence that the Akwa Ibom State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal would upturn the results of the election that produced Mr. Udom Emmanuel as the state governor, said it would have been fair to appoint an Oro indigene as the SSG.

A statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant and Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Ekerette Udoh, on Monday, confirmed the appointment of the former Chief of Staff to Akpabio, Mr. Etekamba Umoren, as the SSG.

Umoren, who is a retired Permanent Secretary, Government House, Uyo, is a graduate of the University of Benin and a Knight of John Wesley.

Awak said, “What this means is that in the ‘temporal government’ of Emmanuel, his deputy is from Annang, Etim Ekpo Local Government Area and the SSG slot again goes to another Annang, from Essien Udim Local Government Area, where Akpabio hails from.

“Emmanuel has just announced his first appointments. It will not be long before the Akwa Ibom State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal will nullify the fraudulent and violent governorship election that produced the crimsoned platform upon which these appointments were made.

“In effect, in the executive arm of government, an Ibibio man is governor, an Annang man is deputy and another Annang man is SSG, but Oro ethnic nationality has nobody. We can see the continuity of impunity and total insensitivity and disregard to other ethnic nationalities in the state.

 “But when will our Oro brothers and sisters who are doing political business with the Annang fellow called Godswill Akpabio learn their lessons?”

Awak added that with the transfer of the governorship and legislative elections tribunals to Abuja for security reasons, the APC and the people of Akwa Ibom State would get victory.

Culled from The Punch