No gang up against Jonathan –Akpabio

Posted by admin Governors Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

•Akpabio
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, has denied any allegation of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors ganging up against President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the election in the upcoming national convention.

Daily Sun had reported that the governors had begun moves to stop candidates considered loyal to the president, citing the role played by the president and National Working Committee (NWC) of the party for denying their former colleague and erstwhile former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, a PDP ticket to seek re-election.

Fielding questions from State House correspondents, Akpabio said: “No no, I don’t believe that, those are speculations. I don’t believe that any governor will gang up against the president. PDP is a democratic party and as far as I am concerned, the president is the leader of the party. So, there is no way we, the followers, can gang up against our leader. The president is our leader and we go with our leader. And as far as I am concerned, that is no issue because the president will like to see a democratic process emerged and as far as PDP is concerned, the PDP recognizes his leadership.”

On Jonathan attending the burial of the late Biafran warlord, Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s burial in Nnewi, Anambra State, Akpabio described it as a good move that helped to unite the country.
“I think it is a very good thing to happen to Nigeria because it became a source of unity, a unifying factor for the whole country. What happened with the Republic of Biafra, defunct as it is, affected the entire nation. People across board died, it wasn’t that the Igbos alone lost their lives and so, Ojukwu symbolizes something.
“The struggle he attempted was a struggle to assert self-independence as a result of what he termed marginalization. And of course, what the entire world saw as at then. So, if we don’t celebrate such a person and what he stood for, the integrity that he stood for automatically we are trying to forget history.

“The celebration of Ojukwu’s death was a way of reminding us of the need for us never to toe that path again, that we must do things that will bring justice to all sections of the country so that never again shall we have to kill one another, never again shall brothers rise against one another and as far as I am concerned, I am saying that there are more of Ojukwus within the population of Nigeria today than what we have in the 1960s.
“”So, it is important for those of us who are leaders in the country today to continue to do the right thing and continue to ensure fair play and transparency and to deliver on the dividends of democracy to our people and above all, to ensure that we take actions that will generate love among Nigerians.”

-Sunwp_posts