Akpabio waxes philosophical over Akwa Ibom travails

Godswill Akpabio, a senator from Akwa Ibom, has said that his “dream” for the state “lives on”.
Mr Akpabio, who represents Akwa Ibom North-West District in the Senate, lost his bid to return to the Senate for a second term; he was defeated by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chris Ekpenyong.
He is at the tribunal to challenge the election result.
Mr Akpabio’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), lost almost all the elections in the state, including the governorship and the presidential elections.
“My dream for Akwa Ibom lives on. My love for Akwa Ibom and Nigeria waxes stronger,” Mr Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom, said in a post-election article.
The article titled, The Lies and Liars of the Election, was forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES by Mr Akpabio’s media office.
Mr Akpabio said in the article that men, including clerics, have been paid to lie against him during the elections.
He said some persons went as far as lying that he equated himself to God and that he also planned to “sell the state to Moslems for the establishment of cattle colonies”.
“I am happy that God is not like some of His priests,” the senator said.
“Ever since I decamped to APC, they have been praying against me and they have joined in peddling the lies about me.
“Very well-known Church prelates and Bishops that dined with me for eight years while I was governor, despite my benevolence to them and their families joined the fray calling me killer herdsman for joining APC.
“But some of these ‘men of God’ were in this same country in 2012 when the farmers/herdsmen clashes claimed the lives of over 1000 people in the Benue/Plateau/Mambilla axis. At that time, a Christian was the President but was not accused of being a killer of Christians.
“I am happy that God does not condemn a man based on one man’s testimony, but He sees the heart and judges our motives and intentions. Whether one is a Christian or Muslim, we all worship the same God who will at the appointed time judge us from our deeds in words and actions,” he said.
Mr Akpabio said having enjoyed God’s mercies there was no way he could have blasphemed against God.
“In 2015 my wife was in a coma for months and the best doctors in the world with the help of the best life-support equipment gave her less than five percent chance of making it. Doctors and science gave up on her. The press wrote that she had died. But we held on to God and God brought her back to life. Science could not explain this awesome testimony.
“In 2015, I was involved in an accident, which details are still suspect. I survived against all odds because God showed up for me.
“Can a man who has seen so much favour from God, turn around to blaspheme him? Can such a man seek to play God or seek to share His glory with Him? Such a man can never say ‘where was God when I made Udom Emmanuel governor?’” the senator said.
Mr Akpabio after leaving Government House, Uyo, in 2015, fell apart with his successor, Udom Emmanuel, whom he had helped to become governor against all the odds.
The senator in the article wrote about his relationship with his successor, Mr Emmanuel.
“I met Udom Emmanuel performing the duties of a deacon in Qua Iboe Church, Surulere. I immediately adjudged that as a deacon, he would superintend over the affairs of the State with the fear of God.
“Whether I was right or wrong is for history to judge. Nevertheless, I picked him to succeed me and by the grace of God and the votes of Akwa Ibom electorates, he won the election. So God made him governor.
“Yes. I made enemies out of 28 other aspirants who desired that same office. That remains my cross,” he said.
Mr Akpabio added, “I call on those who have been sucked into this axis of evil to stop the lies, the smear campaigns, the propaganda, and the deliberate falsehood.
“I wish to serve notice that I would remain undaunted and focused in serving humanity.”
By Premium Times