The abuses and insults of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, have caught the attention of Akwa Ibom State Gov. Udom Emmanuel, who said he would prefer to ignore him instead of joining issues with him.
The governor noted that Tinubu’s resort to abuses and insults during campaigns showed that he had nothing to bring to the table for Nigerians.
“l would prefer to allow peace to reign by ignoring him and focusing on helping install good governance to rescue Nigerians from their present woes,” said Emmanuel, who doubles as the Chairman of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization.
Tinubu was reported to have said during his rally in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom capital, on January 30 that:“Akwa Ibom, that boy wey bring Atiku here, wey de call himself Governor, tell him enough is enough!
“He lives in my backyard in Lagos, If no be say we be one, I would have driven him home. You see that mansion he is living, I would just use lizards, pigeons and scorpions to put him inside.“
Emmanuel responded on Tuesday evening at Government House, Uyo while inaugurating newly-appointed Permanent Secretaries, Chairmen and members of Boards and Commissions, as well as a Transition Committee to ensure the smooth transition of power to the next administration.
The Governor said: “For the country to remain in peace, one party must ‘play saint’ and that is why he would refrain from replying Tinubu.
“I also go to other states, and if you watch our campaigns, my principal (Atiku Abubakar) has never spoken about any Governor, he has never spoken openly about Asiwaju before.”
Emmanuel said it was unfortunate that Tinubu, who was granted state-owned facilities such as the airport, security, stadium, and a good atmosphere to come in and sell his manifesto, ended up coming to insult the integrity of over 7.9 million Akwa Ibom people.
The Governor wondered if it was possible for any Akwa Ibomite to go to Lagos where Tinubu stays or the actual state that he hails from (Osun) to insult Tinubu in like manner and still be allowed to safely return home.
“But here our people at the stadium including some state governors just laughed and applauded him.
“What makes him think he will govern Nigeria? If I reply him now, people will call me and say, haba oga you are not like that. But I will reply him one day. There is nothing like ‘emilokan’ (it is my turn) here, Nigeria is in God’s hands,” Emmanuel responded.
He said despite being the highest revenue contributor to the federation account, Akwa Ibom State has not got a single kilometre of road from the APC-led Federal Government for nearly eight years, adding that the poor response from the Federal Government also caused the delayed commencement of the seaport in the state.
The governor thanked the newly-appointed Permanent Secretaries for accepting the onerous task of service and urged them to see themselves as ambassadors and work towards raising the bar of leadership which would encourage productivity and promote good working relationships with subordinates in the state service.
“This is one thing I promised Akwa Ibom people that appointment of Permanent Secretaries shall be totally on merit and not by mercy, let those that can do the work be given the opportunity.
“A permanent Secretary is not a promotion, it is an appointment on merit.”
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