Obong Ntieyong Inyangmme is the political leader of Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State and, an astute grassroots politician with experience spanning over three decades.
Inyangmme, a onetime chairman of Akwa Ibom State Sports Council and currently a board member of Ibom Power Plant, speaks on the political situation in Ibiono Ibom, the administrative style of Governor Udom Emmanuel and the excellent representation of Senator Bassey Albert in the Senate among other issues in an exclusive interview with Crystal Express.
Could you let us know how you started?
I have been an activist all my life. I remember my childhood days; I used to captain my team in Itam Secondary School where I schooled. I was the captain of the school team in my last two years and I led a team then that had my seniors. That was how I started manifesting my leadership qualities.
At The Polytechnic, Calabar, I became the director of sports and when our caretaker committee chairman then, Mr. George Eyo, resigned to contest the presidency of the student union, I became the acting chairman of the students union and that was the first time I found myself in police station, largely caused by my activism. Then there was a face-off between students and police which led to that experience. However, the matter was resolved by the intervention of well-meaning Cross Riverians.
From there I became the organizing and publicity secretary of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) students wing. I was a member of the NPN then. After military intervention, we got involved in lots of political movements such as Liberal Movements, Liberal Convention, then National Republican Convention (NRC) where I became chairman of the then Itu Local Government Area chapter. When General Sani Abacha struck, we stayed until the emergence of the then popularly known “five fingers of a leproushand”: the then five political parties that adopted Abacha as sole candidate of their parties.
All of us adopted Abacha as the sole candidate of all the five political parties. I was then in National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN) founded and funded by Atuekong Don Etiebet. I was the state secretary then. But not too long, Abacha forced Etiebet out of the race for presidency then out of his party to Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN). It was a question of either he joined the DPN or his life. Some of us like late Obong Etukudo Ekpro, Anietie Okon and others refused to join him to DPN. However, when we eventually joined DPN, the party was overhauled and I was again made the state secretary. It was not long and that era ended. By 1998, there were movements again to form political parties and I was one of the 13 persons led by Atuekong Etiebet that were given the flag to come and establish the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State.
We were called the conveners when we arrived and with the support of others, I was made the state secretary. This made my friends then, like Senators Etang Umoyo, Anietie Okon and Ibok Essien to start calling me “permanent secretary”. When Obong Victor Attah emerged the governor of Akwa Ibom State, I was made the chairman of the State Sports Council.
However, when the Abuja front surfaced, some of us who had issues with the Attah government left and joined the Abuja front. Then against every permutation, Chief Godswill Akpabio emerged governor, had his time and helped ushered in the incumbent governor, Deacon Udom Emmanuel, who also appointed me to serve on the board of Ibom Power Company. That has been my involvement in politics. Today, by the magnanimity and support of our people, I see myself as the political leader of Ibiono Ibom.
I have been involved in leading political movements in Ibiono Ibom. The first PDP meeting in Ibiono Ibom was held in my father’s compound. I have been hosting them and providing leadership. Our job is to ensure that things are done and done well. Leadership evolves overtime and that was how I found myself here. I can tell you that there is no village in the old Itu Local Government Area that I have not set my foot on in the process of embarking on political mobilization, or for one political activity or for a political party. I believe that what I’m doing is what God wanted me to do on earth and I’m here doing it.
I discovered that while you have been involved in building political parties and enthroning leaders, you have not openly stood for any elective position. Why?
You are not completely right. I remember that in 2003, I offered myself to go to the House of Representatives but there were a lot of intrigues and Senator Ita Enang eventually took the seat.
The factors that stopped me had largely been interfering with the political development. There are people who believe that I am too knowledgeable and adding money to me will make me inaccessible. They said I was too bold, frank and courageous and call a spade by its name. Therefore, they feared that exposing me to money means trouble to them.
I must tell you that some politicians, whether appointed or elected, get involved in some terrible things and it takes someone who truly knows God to stay away from it. So there are a lot of factors that worked against me. I am a very down to earth person and I don’t deceive myself. After the 2003 election and I know that the factors that worked against me are still there, I won’t do myself any good to still gun for elective position. So I stayed back to build the party and be a king maker.
I must tell you that even up till this moment the system is still not clean. There are a lot of things that are involved that the persons who look up to God will look at them the second time.
You have been in PDP since 1998 without decamping. Is it a sign of fulfilment with the way the party is ministered in the state?
PDP is not worse than any other party as bad as it may look. What plays out in the party system is an indication of who Nigerians are. Nigerians don’t like straight things, even if you get involved you will compromise because it is imbedded in our system. We are not clean enough to be clean. I have been here tolerating anything that comes but I still believe in PDP. I was the secretary of Umana Okon Umana gubernatorial ambition but when he left for the All Progressives Congress (APC), I told him that I won’t join him to the party; that the PDP remains my home.
As the political leader of Ibiono Ibom, are you not worried that your area is yet to have a substantive chairmanship candidate for the coming local government poll?
We have a candidate. I doubt if there is any place in Akwa Ibom State that the issue of candidacy has not been resolved. In Ibiono Ibom we have Hon. Ekomobong Akpan as our candidate for the poll. We resolved the issue before the party primary. However, in politics there are people who don’t want to admit that they have lost and can continue to live in fool’s paradise until the obvious is very clear.
We discovered that after the initial declaration of Ekomobong Akpan, his opponent’s group still came out to rejoice that their candidate is now the winner. Why?
When the state chairman and the chairman of the electoral committee drove into the arena, they told the stakeholders to go and announce what we agreed on the Ibiono Ibom matter and the senator stepped out and called the leader of the other group, Mr. Ini Ememobong, to pass the message to his group which he refused. I think he rather went and told them that they said they should go and that they will soon send for them and they started dancing and rejoicing. I think any man of integrity should always stand by the truth no matter how bitter. In today’s politics, a lot of things are resolved through dialogue.
The leadership of Ibiono Ibom met here in my house and resolved that the position of the chairmanship should go to the North. People who were not satisfied with the discussion led by Godwin Ekpo, our member in the State Assembly, staged a walk-out followed by Ime Okon. We were about 33 people here and when 11 of them left, the meeting continued and ended well. We resolved that the Ibiono Ibom North which has not had the opportunity like others should produce the chairman.
Ibiobo Ibom has five zones. Hon. Idorenyin Umoh from the North was the first person in this dispensation to go to the House of Assembly. He served one term. Ignatius Edet from the South took two terms and almost got a third term. Ime Okon from the West got the slot and finished his two terms. Godwin Ekpo who is in the State House of Assembly today from the Central did two terms plus as council chairman, he served for seven years and three months in all.
Now that we have the chairmanship in the North, why would they do one term when others did two terms? The North we are talking about has three wards while every other zone had two wards before the creation of new wards. It will not be fair to cheat them and that is why we insist that they have the chairmanship for two terms because they are part and parcel of us.
Every other zone in Ibiono Ibom has political appointees except the North. In the West we have the commissioner and other government appointees including the immediate-past House of Assembly member. In the Central where I come from, Hon. Godwin Ekpo is there as our House of Assembly representative with other special assistants and personal assistants to the governor. The senator, immediate-past commissioner and other appointees are from the Eastern part including the immediate-past publicity secretary of PDP.
In the South we have the vice chairman, some special assistants to the governor including Ignatius Edet, currently a senior special assistant to the governor. But the North with three wards has only the council chairman. From any angle you look at the situation, you will be doing a great injustice to the people of Ibiono Ibom North if you take away the only slot they have. We are here for justice and fair play. We met as leaders, resolved the issue and briefed the senator who saw reasons with us and accepted our position.
In truth the leadership of the party in the state will rather have people coming up with consensus candidates than contests. And in every political discussion which involves groups, there will be opportunity to break and cast votes, while the majority carries the vote, the minority will have their say. The leadership of the party in the state has given direction but some people were bent on flouting it for their selfish interest. Ibiono Ibom people have decided whom they wanted.
Having gone through all these intrigues, what is your advice to the people of Ibiono Ibom as the political leader?
In football matches as a former player, I would tell you that we do lose matches we never knew we would lose but that didn’t end our soccer career. People should not behave as if a particular loss will end what they are doing. In 2003 when I lost nomination to the House of Representatives to Ita Enang, the following morning when the campaign kick-started, everybody was shocked to see me in that campaign. Ita quietly left the campaign and started crying that he never knew somebody was better than him. In politics there must be a winner and a loser and we must move on. Ime Okon was forced on Ibiono Ibom people by Senator Bassey Albert and we accepted him. Godwin Ekpo was twice forced on the people of Ibiono Ibom as council chairman, and we accepted him.
The first was by Ignatius Edet when he was the speaker, then Senator Albert didn’t want him but the then governor allowed Ignatius Edet as the third citizen of the state to have his wish. Then the second time Godwin Ekpo abandoned Ignatius Edet when he was removed and started romancing with the senator who also forced him on Ibiono Ibom people. Bassey knelt down and pleaded with the people of Ibiono Ibom to accept Godwin Ekpo and we accepted. Sadly today, he is working against the same Bassey who forced him on Ibiono Ibom people, claiming that Bassey is forcing somebody on Ibiono Ibom. When he Godwin was forced on us we accepted him.
Today I will tell you that for Ekomobong Akpan our candidate, we collectively accepted him and only briefed Senator Bassey on our decision which he accepted. Today it is even better. In their own time, Senator Bassey just came and insisted that they be allowed and after much pleading we accepted. Ime Okon and Godwin Ekpo are the biggest beneficiaries. In each of their elections; Bassey Albert spent money in addition to kneeling down to beg the people of Ibiono Ibom to accept them as their representatives.
What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. Whoever refuses to accept what the leaders of Ibiono Ibom have done has personal and selfish reasons. Those working against Ekomobong Akpan are doing so for personal agenda.
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More wards were created recently by Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC), some Ibiono Ibom people believe that the existing council is too large for a local government area. What is your take?
I strongly believe and also requesting that Ibiono Ibom gets more local government areas. It is a great injustice that Ibiono Ibom till date is still one local government area. We came from Cross River upon creation of Akwa Ibom State just like Oron with one local government area. Today, Oron has five local government areas and we remain only Ibiono Ibom and Itu local government areas.
In population, you cannot compare the entire local government areas in Oro with Ibiono Ibom alone. I have the result of the election we did in 1999 which, though not perfect, was a true reflection of the situation in Akwa Ibom State. The entire votes cast in the five local government areas of Oro were not as much as what he had in Ibiono Ibom. Forget about the manipulation of census results which has become the norm in the entire country.
They said that Nigeria is about 200 million people, it is all lies. We are not close to that. Truly speaking, Ibiono Ibom deserves five local government areas. There was a time government contemplated three but we all know that the process of creating local government areas is very cumbersome. Even the recent creation of wards is yet another injustice to Ibiono Ibom.
We deserve more than just two wards. The areas that have 16 wards don’t even have the population and the land mass we have. But some people are still feeling good with the injustice and they know. Maybe because there was no Ibiono Ibom man there when these things were done. I trust God that one day there will be justice.
Can you take a look at the administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel in the last five years and give your verdict?
It will be very unfair if you see the strides done by the governor without giving him a pass mark. It doesn’t matter if he has touched me as a person or the area I come from, I have seen what he has done and I give him kudos. He has done well. You will better appreciate Governor Emmanuel’s gigantic efforts when you consider the resources that came into the state between 2007-2015 and what is obtainable now. By my very estimation, he has performed very well.
I will advise any armchair critics who sit in their houses to criticize him to load their vehicles full tank and drive round all the developmental sites in the state to see the level of development and be better informed about the strides of the governor. Sometimes things are slowed down because of shortage of funds and he will not manufacture the money. Projects progression is determined by the availability of the resources. So far, this is the first time we have seen a government that sits back, thinks, plans and moves.
By my estimation he has performed very well. He may not have met all our expectations but he has done well. In the area of industrialization, you cannot fault him because he has done very well. He should be encouraged to do more.
What is your take on the issue of zoning of governorship which some people say is now open to all by 2023 having gone around the three senatorial districts?
Zoning is entrenched in the Constitution of the PDP from the beginning. I can tell you that as one of the founders which we thoroughly emphasized it from the outset. I thank God that our governor today doesn’t joke about zoning and has encouraged it even to the position of councillors in wards.
Zoning is embedded in the PDP as a party. Zoning has brought peace and allowed power and office to go round. It engenders justice and fair play and only demands patience to reach every area. In Akwa Ibom it will be very unfair for anybody to think that 2023 governorship should not come to Uyo Senatorial District. It is not only the best thing to have it in Uyo Senatorial District but the proper thing to do and that should be the position of the party and even when it comes to Uyo, there will be micro zoning which will allow those areas which are yet to have it to get a shot at it.
And when it comes to Itu/Ibiono Ibom Federal Constituency we will grab it with two hands. I want to state that the only thing that will bring justice in 2023 is to allow Itu/Ibiono Ibom to produce a governor in 2023; and if it is not done, it will be another act of injustice which definitely will boomerang.
If all of us come from the same father and you have had your portion of our father’s wealth, do you think you will be encouraging peaceful co-existence if you deny me my portion? The logical thing to do is to allow Itu/Ibiono Ibom Federal Constituency to produce a governor in 2023. As a son of Ibiono Ibom, that is my wish.
What is your take on Senator Bassey Albert’s representation in the Senate so far?
Senator Bassey Albert’s representation so far is excellent. I hope you are aware that he comes home regularly to brief his constituents on the activities in the National Assembly. On the floor of the Senate, you will agree with me that he has not only done well, he has properly represented us.
He has gone beyond his brief and to the expectation of the people, he has touched lives. He has done what no one has ever done in that capacity for not only the people of his senatorial district but the entire state. There is no major issue on the floor of the Senate without his input. He has served and still serving meritoriously. He deserves our support and encouragement.
