Trail Reporters
Weeks of investigations by our Reporters, have shown, how the secretary to the Akwa Ibom state Government, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, emerged as SSG.
In a high powered meeting held last year at the Grosvenor Hotel,101 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0SJ, England, which was attended by the incumbent Governor and the former Akwa Ibom Governor, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, it was agreed that, in order to placate the Oro people, the position of the SSG should be given to them, as the 2019 elections approaches.
Reliable sources who spoke with Trail Reporters said, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem’s name popped up, as his pedigree as a technocrat was also considered, to boost the image of the Udom’s administration.
This sources say, was also, to keep Ekuwem away from vying for the Eket senatorial seat in 2019, so there won’t be an upset in the contest, which may swing to his favour, like it happened in 2015, where Ekuwem was cheated out, to allow Akpabio compensate his long time ally, Nelson Effiong.
We gathered that, an agreement to also consider the Eket Senate seat in 2019, was also considered. The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel was said to have been told to nominate his candidate for the elections.
The former Akwa Ibom Attorney General, Ekpenyong Ntekim, was put forward by the Governor, to compensate him for his loyalty to the party.
Sources say, Akpabio was not opposed to the nomination of Ntekim, as he had in 2015, asked Ntekim to contest for the position, which he declined, citing reasons from his people, who may see him as a betrayer, in the cause of presenting himself, when the Oro people were yearning for the governorship seat in 2015.
In the power sharing bloc, the present Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Victor Antai, was considered to represent Oro in the House of Representatives in 2019.
Part of the implementation plot, was to see the former SSG, Etekamba Umoren, throw in the towel, and to also make his wife the Head of Service in Akwa Ibom, as part of his compensation.
The secret we learnt, was to be kept under the wraps, until it is fully implemented.
Our top sources say, Akpabio had advised the Governor, to pick someone who will be loyal to him and fully committed, and regretted his mistake of bringing Nelson Effiong to represent Eket, where he eventually decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
