Senator Albert Raises Alarm Over Plot To Link Him To Planned Unrest

The Governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in Akwa Ibom State, Senator Albert Bassey Akpan, has raised alarm over plots by suspected state government agents to link him to planned civil unrest.

The gubernatorial candidate, in a petition signed by his spokesperson, Dr Usoro Usoro and made available to the media on Monday, alleged that the plot was to cause civil disturbance through arrests of persons not in support of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s succession agenda.

Albert said agents of government plan to blame him for the anticipated unrest and use the guise to make arrests, hence his alarm and petition to security agencies in the state and Abuja.

The petition was addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, Police Commissioner, Akwa Ibom State Command, Director General of the Department of State Services, Abuja and Director, Department of State Services, Uyo.

The statement read:

“MOUNTING FRUSTRATION AS AGENTS OF FAILED IMPOSITION PLOT MORE ANTI-PEOPLE SCHEMES.

“Frustrated by the increasing failure of their inordinate ambition to impose unpopular characters on the people of Akwa Ibom State, a band of unscrupulous politicians, apparently to divert attention from their fiasco, are said to be plotting a series of schemes to destabilise the peace, tranquillity, rights and personal security of some individuals in the state.

“According to information at our disposal, these crude and selfish persons intend to organise a number of anti-people protests, instigate unjust and illegal arrests of those suspected not to be in their support and blame the imminent negative public reaction on Senator Albert Bassey Akpan (OBA), his political associates as well as his new party, the Young Progressives Party (YPP).

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“We understand that the plan, reportedly coordinated by some agents of government, followed the realisation that despite high-level manipulations, mercantile dealings and mafia-typed plots, OBA has become not just the governorship candidate of YPP but the most popular politician in the state.

“Within weeks, against political bookmakers’ predictions, YPP has witnessed a mass movement expected to culminate in the ballot revolution, next year. Never in our state’s political history has any party grown with so much speed and mass acceptance. This evolving trend is said to be making OBA/YPP’s opponents grossly uncomfortable, hence their ignoble plots.

“While drawing the attention of the security agencies to the inglorious scheme, it should be noted that already, the frustration-induced, anti-people plots have been set in motion with the recent arrests of some independent-minded Akwa Ibomites, who have refused to either be intimidated or financially influenced to support evil.

“For days now, some of our members, including Idorenyin Umana, have been trailed, haunted and harrassed from their homes, while a newspaper distributor, Chidi Ngadiubia, has been arrested, reportedly on “orders from above”, for no specified crime.

“Equally, it has been in the news that some editors, including Ifreke Nsewo of The Mail newspaper, have been on the witch-hunt list of government, apparently for publishing the truth about the mass rejection of a certain unwanted, scandal-ridden and unpopular governorship candidate.

“While we in Akwa Ubok Abasi Campaign Movement support responsible journalism and lawful living, we strongly oppose acts of intimidation, injustice, victimisation and any attempt to plot anarchy in any form. The government and its agents should be reminded that we are still in a democracy, where tolerance for divergent opinions and rights of association and choices form the tenets of credible societal coexistence.

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“Any politician or group believing his or its candidate is popular should test such acceptability at the poll and not invite any mayhem on the people. Consequently, any individual or professional, including journalists, deemed to have gone beyond accepted codes or brief of his duty should be challenged in the court of law and not through undue intimidation, harassment, threats and unlawful arrests.

“While thanking our supporters, who are growing in leaps and bounds, for being steadfast on this God-backed project, despite inducements, threats and intimidations, we commend them for the new consciousness blowing across the state and urge them to continue on the path of peace, focus and lawfulness.

“This mission to actualise a new Akwa Ibom, founded on the “3R- mandate,” will certainly end in praise – as we jointly aim to recover Akwa Ibom, reconcile it genuinely back to God and reposition it for greatness!

Signed:

Dr Usoro I. Usoro
(Spokesman, Akwa Ubok Abasi Campaign Organisation)

Cc:

* The Inspector of Police, Abuja.

* The Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command.

* The Director General, Department of State Services (DSS), Abuja.

* The Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Uyo.