PUBLIC NOTICE
This is to notify the general public of the receipt by Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, Ph.D., of sensitive information concerning plans being hatched against the interests of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State.
The plans, allegedly being scripted by strategists within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State, aim at creating rancour in the APC; that will ultimately pose a threat to the Party’s unity in the 2023 elections.
Their strategy will re-enact the 2015 and 2019 tactics of recruiting and liaising with moles within the APC; but this time, it will dictate greater emphasis on causing deep and lasting divisions among Party members; and across Party ranks.
Senator Akpanudoedehe reveals that as part of their plot, the strategists will publish past diatribes between Party leaders (including himself; Sen. Godswill Akpabio; Obong Nsima Ekere; Obong Umana Umana; and others).
They will spin and circulate deliberate falsehoods; propaganda and blackmail, to misinform members of the APC, and create distrust and suspicion amongst them.
This approach would serve to create an avenue for the PDP to manoeuvre itself into relevance in the APC, and possibly introduce a stooge they would covertly sponsor to emerge through the Party’s Primaries!
In the context of these, Senator Akpanudoedehe admonishes APC members, firstly, to let go of past (in-house) grievances; which are irrelevant to the present challenge of rallying to ‘row the APC boat’ through the storm to the shore!
He adds that whatever may have been said or done by any leader(s) of the APC against one another, was resolved in a Reconciliation agreed to by all, in the interest of preparing the Party adequately, to face the challenges of the 2023 elections.
Secondly, he reminds Party faithfuls of the actions of the PDP during the APC Guber Primaries of 2015 and 2019 in Akwa Ibom State, where State apparatuses (including security agents) were deployed overwhelmingly against him.
He notes that in both instances, the PDP spun the abominable false allegation that he was in alliance with them; and maintained that their action was a cunning antic crafted to cast him in odious light before his supporters.
He warns that the same strategy may be employed during the 2023 elections, by agents who would allege that one or more of the APC leaders is (are) working covertly for the PDP; and appeals that members should be wary of the fakery.
Thirdly, Senator Akpanudoedehe urges APC members not to countenance the PDP’s age-old boast of their insurmountable power of incumbency; noting that . ‘Incumbency’ had been ‘dethroned’ in the past by determined voters.
He cites instances like the APC’s emergence at the center in 2015; and the ACN’s 2011 victory in Akwa Ibom State, which was scuttled by post-election intrigues and manipulations.
Fourthly, Senator Akpanudoedehe wishes Akwa Ibom people to note that they are intelligent; dynamic; able to think for themselves; and to take carefully thought-out decisions.
In the context, he urges them not to subscribe to the fallacy that “Akwa Ibom is a PDP State” as the ideology is as undemocratic as it is insulting; because power does not belong to any ‘big names’, but to the people!
He points out that the PDP reasoning displaces the powers and rights of the people to elect their own representatives and leaders; which is a standard prescription for democracy all over the world.
Fifthly, Senator Akpanudoedehe calls on all APC members who decamped to the PDP, to reconsider their decisions, and return to the APC.
He dismisses any relevance they may claim to enjoy in their new Party, and among strange bed-fellows, as lacking roots that extend beyond the depths of temporary political convenience.
He assures them that should they return to their Party (where they have their roots), they would be welcomed back in the spirit of genuine acceptance and reconciliation.
Finally, Senator Akpanudoedehe calls on all APC members to be aware of these schemes of the ruling PDP in Akwa Ibom State; and to note that this trend has always defined their modus operandi in the past.
He notes that the PDP’s worry over the headaches the APC could cause them in 2023, has dictated their early desperation; but urges Party men and women to stand firm, and be ready to frustrate the PDP’s plans at their earliest identification.
Ata Etuk
SA Media and Publicity
to Senator J.J. Akpanudoedehe.