Udo Ekpenyong Was As A Great Political Strategist
Mr. Lawrence Orok Udosen, the acting chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, could not control his emotions when Crystal Express team took him up on the issue of the demised chairman of the party, late Obong Udo Ekpenyong. Udosen, a former council chairman and commissioner in Akwa Ibom State, decribed Ekpenyong in glowing terms and assured that the flame he left behind in the party will be oiled to keep burning for the party to maintain its winning streak in subsequent elections. Excerpts:
Late Udo Ekpenyong, chairman PDP, Akwa Ibom State, will be laid to rest Friday. What is your take on his unexpected demise?
You will agree with me that the late Udo Ekpenyong was everybody’s person having served in several capacities in public service in the last two decades.
He contributed in almost all the administrations in the State right from the military era through the Obong Victor Attah’s Administration till date. Udo Ekpenyong was a household name in Akwa Ibom State. We cannot really come to terms that somebody who was alive to every responsibility of the party in the last five months has gone so soon. Therefore, we feel like we are in a trance. The news of Ekpenyong’s demise came to us as a very big shock, very devastating; a man who was full of life and had great vision for the party and then was gone too soon. But who are we to question God! Like the governor would say, you cannot add one minute or even a second to your life once God says it’s over for you. That is the mystery that resides only with God. I had a very close and cordial relationship with him and you know that once you lose a loved one, it is always very painful. We were together as chairmen of local government areas, we worked together in Obong Victor Attah’s government where he was the then special adviser on political and legislative matters. I worked then as a director in the Board of the Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation and served in different political committees. Ekpenyong was actually the engine room of grassroots mobilization having served earlier as a council chairman.
It is so sad when you lose a loved one. We can only pray that God will console us, especially his immediate family. His death came untimely and we will miss him. He was a man of vision and a committed and fortright man. His goal was always to achieve results and believed more in actions than words. We were very happy having him as the sixth chairman of PDP in the state. He had earlier served at the national level of the party as ex-officio member and brought that experience to bear in his capacity as chairman. He was a man of great intellectual capacity. He was prepared for his job, a close ally and confidant of the governor. He ensured we were comfortable in office here, ensuring that we had steady power supported by solar energy at night and Internet facilities within the well-furnished PDP State Secretariat. We had close circuit cameras, intercom facilities and every necessary tool we need to function effectively and efficiently. He was a good administrator and man of taste. He went for the best anytime.
Read Also: Tributes Overflow As Gov Emmanuel, PDP Chieftains, Ors, Bid Udo Ekpenyong Farewell
You deputized him for five months here at PDP. What was your working relationship like?
We had a friendly and brotherly relationship.We had known ourselves before we came here. He was very particular about my appointment because he wanted working with me. He knew my capacity. He was like a brother to me and I never believed that too soon, I would lose a brother.
Do you think his sudden demise will affect the party’s chances in 2023?
I will like to say it this way that his demise is a great loss to the state and the party at large, even nationally. But as for the fortunes of the party in 2023, it is in the hands of God, not man. We have lost a gem in Udo Ekpenyong who was a great political strategist. Even political dispute in the state had him in every resolution committee for the crisis as chairman or member. That was because he knew his onions and understood the workings of the system. He knew what to do at all time and was always in touch with the stakeholders. That is why he was known as a bridge-builder and very much detribalised person. After our inauguration, he mobilised the stakeholders and other structures of the party and gave them a sense of belonging. Within the five months we had ward chapter congresses and after that we had primaries for local government election and everything went smoothly. He was a workaholic and man that will deliver on his assignment anyday.
With his commitment to duties here, is there any plan for the party to immortalise him?
He has gone but he lives on. For us that worked very close with him, he imparted discipline, accountability, loyalty to us and these legacies will live on in us as he left us to carry on the battle. We will immortalise him by ensuring that these legacies live. Maybe other things to be done to immortalise his name rest with our leader, His Excellency Governor Udom Emmanuel. It is no longer a secret that he was a very close friend of the governor and also his confidant. The governor during our condolence visit to the family said if it would have cost him donating one of his paired organs, for instance the kidney or something for Udo to live, he would have. I believe the governor will surely immortalise his late friend.
One of the issues on his table before his demise which is confronting you now is the issue of local government election aspirants who felt aggrieved after the primary. What is the situation now?
You know that the umbrella is large enough to accommodate everybody. I will tell you that they are not aggrieved as they are party men and women. It is incumbent on them to bring forth their grievances and we sit at a roundtable to sort them out. The governor and leader of the state has a large heart and will take care of everything. What I see is that there is no problem within the problem they have. They said they are aggrieved aspirants, if they bought forms, contested and fought a good fight but it went the other way, I want to tell you that the party will address all the problems as soon as we finish the burial of our late chairman. We will call them for a dialogue. I have seen some of their posts and demonstrations and prayed that they are not being hijacked or sponsored to smear the party. Take it from me that the PDP remains the party to beat and only party in Akwa Ibom State. Therefore, if they want to be part of the party, they should not allow themselves to be used by the opposition party to smear the state PDP. They should remain committed party members and we will find a space under the umbrella for them. The truth is that they have no problem.
Do you get worried on the rumours being peddled in some quarters that the state governor has concluded plans to join the All Progressives Congress (APC)?
I can authoritatively tell you that it is just unnecessary propaganda, smear blackmail and what have you. The Rivers State governor said recently that no sane person will have malaria problem with known solution and decide to go and contract cancer which will kill you faster. There is no APC in Akwa Ibom State, so it is not to my knowledge that my leader is contemplating politics. PDP is a party to beat in Nigeria and the only party in Akwa Ibom State.
The governor and your party leader is now on his completion agenda. Is the party satisfied with his achievements in the last six years plus?
It is only the blind that cannot see the miracle in Akwa Ibom State. The governor and leader of our party is one governor that has performed creditably in Nigeria. He is the number one; his industrialisation is second to none. In the light of the Covid-19 and insecurity in some parts of the country, Akwa Ibom is still witnessing influx of investors. The two very important projects, the Ibom Deep Seaport which is attracting investors, the free export zone is up and coming. The governor is bent on turning the state from a civil service economy to a viable and industrialised state with a robust private sector. We cannot ask for any person other than our performing governor at this time. He is a man on a mission. In the entire South-South region, he is the best performing governor. Look at the roads even when the resources are lean, quality construction firms like Julius Berger are still working. The governor works with and goes for the best always. He has declared a state of emergency on education and he has re-engineered the sector with rehabilitation, reconstruction and furnishing of the sector. It’s going to be massive and total. The ongoing recruitment exercise for 1000 teachers is done by the best consultants to avoid hiring misfits into our educational sector. The governor has the progress and prosperity of Akwa Ibom State at heart. Many more good works and projects will still unfold in the remaining years. The PDP is very satisfied with the governor for embarking on the full manifestoes of the party and also building legacy projects across the state. We should give the governor kudos and support him to achieve his goals before his tenure ends.
How are you coping with the pressure of your new office as acting chairman, a position you may never have anticipated to hold, at least not just after five months of becoming a deputy party chairman?
I will put it this way, having served two times as council administrator, having served as a commissioner in the State Exco, having served in the party with Late Obong Udo Ekpenyong in the last five months, it is job as usual, no pressures, because we know what to do and how to do it. There are no piled up files because we have competent hands. The present crop of Exco members are people with capacities to deliver in their assignments. We are not under pressure, we are doing our best to keep the party going and we are ready to ensure that our departed will be happy that the flame he left behind will not quench in our hands. It was his wish that the PDP in Akwa Ibom State continues with his winning streak and we will ensure that the vision lives on. We are not under any pressure.
