As the race for the Akwa Ibom State governorship builds up, the political players in the state, are at battles to outwit each other, and claim political supremacy. Top on the list in the All Progressives Congress, is Mr.John Udoedehe, an Aspirant in the last APC primaries in Akwa Ibom State.
For Udoedehe, the APC was his personal estate, where he hitherto called the shot and was the Leader of the Party in the State, a position that never lasted.
With the entrant of Nsima Ekere to the Party, Udoedehe’s political fortunes began to dwindle. Nsima had entered the party, not as a member, but one who came to dwarf Udoedehe and put him in political oblivion. Despite the huge money chest from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) where Nsima is coming from, the silencing of Udoedehe, was a matter of time.
Udoedehe has fought tooth and nail to stay afloat, yet, his traducers are hell bent on putting him permanently to a dust bin. One thing we won’t take away from Udoedehe, is his constant fight to stay atop, in the midst of seemingly opposition within his party, and the political conspiracy of betrayal, which he has had to live with.
We are witnesses to the substitution of names, which were shortlisted and forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on that list, were Udo’s boys’ that also awaited the publication of their names, like pupils, who just wrote common entrance, and were awaiting placement.
The truth remains, the same “impunity“ Udoedehe and his ilks used to accuse the Peoples Democratic Party of doing, they now swim in it. Almost all of his supposed candidates, did not make it to the final, because, the new political gods in APC only sees Udoedehe as an expired product, and a means to an end.
It is not like he has a choice to back out, no. He is duty bound to eat their vomits, because, opting out of the Party, will spell doom for him, so, as helpless as Udo is, he must act up, else, he becomes a public ridicule, even when he is deriding to valuelessness politically.
It is a known fact, that the once landlord of APC, is now a tenant in his house. Part of it, was his low scores in the APC primaries, which produced another chance, for people to be maimed, killed, and harassed, like we witnessed in the later days of the Warsaw Chief.
There are rumor mills of Udo signing agreements with the so called chieftains of the Party, but I can state categorically, that none of those agreements will be honored.
Udoedehe knows that his empire has crumbled. He no longer calls the shot. Today, Nsima Ekere and Akpabio are the deciders in the supposed party Udo built. His supporters who were denied party tickets have grumbled, but no one to take their complaints to, because their supposed political leader have been dethroned by circumstances.
After the defeat of Nsima Ekere at the polls, Udoedehe will become a better politician. The new landlords must have left his tattered brooms for him to gather and move on. They met him in APC, they will leave him there. But as it stands, Udoedehe has been used and dumped by the new APC cabal led by Nsima Ekere.
Udoedehe is already used to being used and dumped. This wouldn’t be the first time, nor the last. It is a recurrent decimal.
A REPUTATION FOUNDED ON INTEGRITY, MUST BE NURTURED BY TRUTH.
Eneh John is the Editor, Trail Reporters News.
