The Akwa Ibom Governorship Election Tribunal resumes on Thursday,
October 8, 2015 for the adoption of written addresses by counsels to the
petitioner and the defendants, before it will set a new date to deliver its judgment
in the petition filed by Umana against Governor Emmanuel, PDP and INEC.
Bassey Dan-Abia is said to have told his kinsmen in Esit
Eket Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, during a recent stakeholders’
meeting in the area that for him to maintain his job as the MD of NDDC he has
no option other than to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s party and also
help deliver Akwa Ibom State for APC if the tribunal orders for fresh governorship
election.
President Buhari won the March 28, 2015 presidential
election on the platform of APC, while Dan-Abia is an influential member of PDP
in Akwa Ibom State.
In Nigeria, those appointed into public offices are often at
the mercy of the president, governor or whoever appointed them as the case may
be.
A former senator from Eket Senatorial District who said he
attended the Esit Eket stakeholders’ meeting told Think Akwa Ibom! that various leaders, including youth and women,
who spoke at the meeting expressed understanding over Dan-Abia’s latest
position on politics in Akwa Ibom State.
“In fact, everyone (at that meeting) came to a common
conclusion that the only escape route for him (Dan-Abia) is for the tribunal to
affirm the election of Udom Emmanuel. Except that happens, we are afraid, he
has to support the president’s party. And we can’t blame him for that, because
that is the dynamics of politics,” the former senator told Think Akwa Ibom! on Wednesday in Eket.
Asked if Governor Udom Emmanuel was aware of the possibility
of Dan-Abia backing the APC governorship candidate, Umana, the former senator
responded: “I can’t tell if he informed the governor. But I think it was
necessary that he (Dan-Abia) consulted his own people first on such important
and sensitive issue before discussing it with any other person.
“It is the tribunal verdict that we all are waiting for. It
is the verdict which will determine the next political direction in the state.
So, I strongly think it is wise to wait and pray for a favourable judgment at
the tribunal.”
President Buhari recently sacked the NDDC board of
directors, leaving behind the MD, Bassey Dan-Abia to run the commission,
without a board.
Most Nigerians thought the President was going to fire Dan-Abia
as well, in matters of days, after the sacking of the NDDC board.
Nice decision. .......hope to see others doing the same.
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