Akwa Ibom 2023: Die Is Cast For Akpanudoedehe

By Our Correspondent

The die is cast as Senator James Akpanudoedehe is set to throw his hat into the 2023 governorship contest in Akwa Ibom State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Akpanudoedehe who is reputed as the father of opposition is bidding for the ticket of the party despite his increased inclination to Christian ministry, a very reliable source within his political family disclosed to GWG.

The former senator and minister of state for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT who opted out of the 2019 contest on the premise of zoning, it was gathered, is bidding for the ticket on the increasing consensus that the governor of the state in 2023 would come from Uyo Senatorial District.

The senator who managed Senator Godswil Akpabio’s 2007 governorship campaign eventually turned against the governor and set the stage for real opposition in Akwa Ibom in 2011 when he stood against Akpabio on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN in the contest that was characterized by violence.

Akpanudoedehe’s associates claim that he was denied the seat through violence and that he was able to produce two senators and seven members of the House of Representatives before the results were reversed.

“In 2019, they said that it was zoning and Akpanudoedehe did not partake but he fully supported Nsima Ekere and was the face of the candidate and no one could question his loyalty to the party at that time. Now the zoning is in his favour and he is the candidate to beat in the party.

“His record is there for anyone, not just being the father of the opposition in the state who brought life to the opposition, he has also shown his capacity through winning elections as he did in 2011,” the source said.

However, whatever aspiration the former senator and minister may have, he is bound to be challenged by party stakeholders who had in the past worked against him even from within the state chapter of the party.

A symbolic reconciliation was effected in 2018 after Senator Akpabio defected to the APC at which former enemies pledged to work together

Presently, Senator Ita Enang is speculated to be in the race for the APC ticket and eyes are also on Umana Umana to also make a bid.

Umana who was the party’s 2015 ticket bypassed the 2019 race which was zoned to Eket Senatorial District. With the ticket apparently going to Uyo Senatorial District speculations are that he may still revive his aspiration.

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