Fake Group Stages Protest At EFCC Against Senator Akpabio

BOLATITO ADEBOLA

Following the sponsored protest staged last Monday by a Civil Rights group at the Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Wuse 2, Abuja, against the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and the demeaning allegations leveled against him it was gathered that they were mere sabotage and sponsored campaign of calumny.

It has been discovered that the mounting support from different quarters for Akpabio and his adopted APC candidate, Nsima Ekere, was what prompted the strong defeatist approach by the opposition, PDP.  This is coming on the hills of Akpabio changing camp from the PDP to APC with a strong and still growing numbers of supporters in his trail.

The protest and the allegations leveled against Senator Godswill Akpabio were described as blatant lies and campaign of calumny orchestrated by the group to pull down the senator so as to stop him from winning the state to the opposition party in the forthcoming general election.

The All Progressives Congress had claimed that the Governor was feeling jittery about an intending loss at the poll in the forthcoming elections. Therefore, he has been using every strategy and orchestrated plans to truncate and demobilize Akpabio and party’s moving train. But the Senator remains undaunted and unshaken by the false and fallacious allegations by the opposition under the aegis of these baseless and unfounded Civil Rights group.

With information at our disposal, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is yet to take any plausible decision against Senate Akpabio and it is believed that it would not be now that the election is fast approaching that they would come up with these false allegations. Even at the live broadcast interview with President Buhari, he declared that he had never interfered in the activities of the anti-graft agencies, EFCC or ICPC on probing anybody including Akpabio.

The group were said to have listed properties in the petition as belonging to Akpabio but there were no concrete evidences to support their claim and allegation; even previous petitions had been withdrawn by their originators because of lack of evidence.

This is not the first time Senator Akpabio had gone to EFCC to respond to petitions against him since he left office as governor four years ago. The protest by the group and the petitioners were said to be pursuing a ‘political vendetta’.

According to the senator in a recent interview he said, ‘I went to the EFCC personally to ensure that I answered to the petition and I answered them. I am the most investigated former governor in Nigeria. Go to anywhere in the world; I don’t have a single house that I could sell, whether in the United Kingdom or Dubai. I’m one of the few Nigerians who do not operate any foreign account. And I challenge anyone from anywhere in Nigeria to prove me wrong. So, forget about the contrived negative story that you heard about Godswill Akpabio”.

It was gathered that at the end of the protest which was allegedly ignored by the anti-graft agency, there was disagreement as protesters were spotted in front of Wuse Central Mosque fighting over money as the leader of the faceless group reportedly was said to have shortchanged other members of the group as against the agreed sharing formula.

It was rumoured the protest may have been sponsored by a high ranking government official from the South South region who was not comfortable with Akpabio’s growing influence in the region since he defected to the All Progressives Congress.