2027: A’Ibom communities conflict over Akpabio’s billboards

Stakeholders from Ibeno have reportedly clashed with the Ekid folks over the latter’s alleged opposition to billboards bearing the picture of Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, which have been sighted in strategic areas throughout Eket Native Authorities Space of Akwa Ibom State.

The Ekid folks, below the auspices of the Ekid Folks’s Union, have been mentioned to have opposed the billboards, questioning the rationale for his or her placement on the grounds that Akpabio was not from the Eket Senatorial District.

Akpabio represents Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District (Ikot Ekpene) within the Nationwide Meeting.

Reacting in Uyo on Wednesday, the Ibeno Elders, by way of their spokesperson, Mr Diamond Akpanika (Barrister), condemned the Ekid Folks’s Union’s objection to the billboards, describing it as “political vacancy and inferiority complicated masquerading as activism.”

Akpanika eulogised Akpabio, describing him as a detribalised chief whose affect prolonged past Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria.

“Senator Akpabio is not only a senator for Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District; he’s the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. By advantage of that workplace, his influence is nationwide,” Akpanika mentioned.

He described Akpabio’s place as Senate President as a strategic benefit to Akwa Ibom State which ought to appeal to assist quite than hostility from inside the state.

Akpanika cited the Senate President’s empowerment programmes throughout Akwa Ibom, together with the donation of 10 outboard engines, fishing boats and fishing gear to riverine girls and cooperatives in Eket Senatorial District in December 2025, in addition to federal appointments facilitated for indigenes.

In keeping with him, “Ekid Folks’s Union isn’t a sufferer of neglect. What’s driving this hatred is envy of Senator Akpabio’s affect, acceptance and nationwide relevance. That is political vacancy and an inferiority complicated masquerading as activism.”

He additional accused the Ekid Folks’s Union of sabotaging improvement in Akwa Ibom by opposing main funding alternatives by way of petitions, protests and alleged blackmail.

Akpanika alleged that initiatives such because the Amakpe Refinery, Qua Metal, Dr Pepper mission, Chinese language market investments, BUA Refinery, the East–West Highway, NAF Air Base and the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Freeway had been annoyed, including that, “after driving away buyers, they flip round to complain of unemployment.

“You can not smash your personal plate and later complain there isn’t a meals,” he mentioned.

He recommended Governor Umo Eno for what he described as a brave stance on the disputed Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, saying the opposition to the governor stemmed from his refusal to compromise on the info surrounding the problem.

“The governor stood by the reality and rejected a faux state map concocted below the earlier administration. That braveness is the actual offence,” Akpanika mentioned.

He urged curiosity teams in Eket to eschew bitterness, embrace political maturity and maintain their leaders accountable.

With the 2027 elections drawing nearer, billboards have begun to seem throughout the state in anticipation of the polls, with Governor Umo Eno and different stakeholders rallying behind Akpabio to retain his Senate President’s seat.

At a particular inter-denominational New 12 months thanksgiving service in Uyo, the governor had declared that solely the enemy of Akwa Ibom wouldn’t need Akpabio to be Senate President.

“We’ll pray and work arduous that Akpabio’s colleagues will return him because the Senate President, in order that Akwa Ibom will proceed to occupy the quantity three seat on this nation,” he mentioned.