Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has been tipped to win in Akwa Ibom State due to massive dividends enjoyed by the state under the APC-led federal government.
This was the position of former Deputy Governor of the state and former Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission, Obong Nsima Ekere.
According to him, the state has to reciprocate the good gesture of the federal government.
Ekere, who was addressing journalists in Uyo, ahead of the presidential rally of his party in the state, said the quantum of dividends is unprecedented in the history of Akwa Ibom State.
The 2019 governorship candidate of the APC, who recently got appointed as the Chairman, Central Planning Committee of the rally slated for January 30, 2022, at the Nest of Champions stadium in Uyo, listed federal appointments, projects and crude oil derivation refunds as some of the reasons why APC can bank on the state.
“I doubt if we’ve ever had it as good as we now have in this state from the federal government under the APC administration. Look at the issue of appointment, never in the history of the politics of this country has Akwa Ibom State been as favourably treated as they have been in the last seven and a half years of the APC administration. Check, it has never happened before.
“Look at the projects, I can talk about myself, I was Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for about two and a half years, before I got in there, Akwa Ibom State as the number one oil producing state was not getting what they were supposed to be getting but I can tell you that in the past two and a half years that I was there, the number of projects that we had for Akwa Ibom State exceeded what all the other states put together had. We were able to address the imbalance which hitherto was the case and even do much better. There’s no Local Government Area that you’ll not see NDDC projects.
“The Ekparakwa-Ikot Abasi Highway is being rehabilitated by the Federal Government, the Ikot Ekpene -Odukpani Road is being dualized by federal government too. There is also plan to have a railway from Oron all the way to Lagos – all these are federal government projects. Even under the APC administration, the monies due to oil producing states have been paid. Akwa Ibom benefits very heavily from those refunds. They have given us a Federal University at Ikot Abasi. We have every reason to support the APC,” he highlighted during the interview.
He revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari will attend the rally.
Expressing satisfaction with the Bola Tinubu – Kashim Shettima’s joint ticket, Ekere noted that they are imbued with intelligence, expertise, charisma, and possess much needed leadership experience to uplift the country.
He announced the Central Planning Committee, leaders of the party and the entire APC faithful are set for the rally.
Furthermore, Ekere reiterated that his emergence as CPC Chairman, to replace Senator Nelson Effiong, who CPC Chairman of the now-cancelled January 12 rally was done in good faith, and stressed that Effiong is very in good terms with him and the party, and is still part of preparations for the rally.
