written to the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Udom Emmanuel on the
threat by Governor Godswill Akpabio to assassinate political opponents in
the state.
The text of the open letter, culled from Facebook, is published below.
EDE URUA, EKET,
AKWA IBOM STATE.
July 22, 2014
Elder Udom G. Emmanuel
Secretary to Government of
Akwa Ibom State
Governor’s Office
Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
My dear Elder,
THREAT, BY GOVERNOR GODSWILL AKPABIO,
TO ASSASSINATE YOUR POLITICAL OPPONENTS.
I heard the blood curdling story (reported in every Nigerian Newspaper in
print and on-line, including the Punch newspaper of Thursday the 19th of
July 2014 at page 19) of the decision of Governor Akpabio, CON, to
assassinate all of us who want to contest the 2015 Governorship elections
against you, his anointed political candidate and presumed successor. I
could have addressed this letter to him but find it unnecessary in the
belief that as the would be beneficiary of the political assassinations
which Governor Akpabio has promised to unleash on the State, you are in the
best position to persuade him not to kill us, on your behalf, just for
exercising our rights under the Nigerian Constitution.
I take this option because Akpabio is not joking. The word of the Governor
is the word of the Pope ex-Cathedra and cannot be taken lightly. As the
head of a Government, whose primary responsibility ought to be the
protection of lives and property of its citizens, when he threatens the
elite political class with death, he gives us clear notice of what he
intends to do. He has the ability, determination, willingness, persuasion
and experience to carry out his decision. After all, he enjoys immunity
from prosecution. You must be aware of the politically motivated murders in
Akwa Ibom State, under the leadership of Governor Akpabio, which have
remained unresolved to date. Under the circumstance only a fool would take
the undertaking by the Governor, to kill more politicians as a mere gaffe.
The assassination of a few of us who have dared to indicate interest in the
race, even before it begins, may not be the most difficult thing for a man
who found the presence of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party the most
convenient occasion to make the declaration.
One thing I can guarantee you is that whoever is killed in your name will
certainly leave a trail of revenge killings which the dead may be unable to
end. The consequences of such an act could also spell doom for you and your
family but will surely never make you Governor. As an Elder of the Church,
you know the futility of such an act. No man becomes King unless the
Almighty God proclaims him. Herod killed thousands of male children in
Israel, yet Herod could neither impose himself nor his protégée. How then
will Governor Akpabio’s decision to impose you succeed, by killing your
opponents and how will the killing of political opponents ever stop if you
succeed him?
And who are those he wants dead? Citizens of Akwa Ibom State of your ethnic
stock, fathers and husbands, those who worked, campaigned and spent their
time and money for him to become Governor, those who salvaged his
Government and laundered his image, those who stood by him when he was
wearing the garment of cultists, those who gave him hope when he was
hopeless, those who faced the difficult times with him, and my dear
brother, you were not there. If you have to harvest what you did not sow,
why kill the owners of the farm like the owners of the house, the only ones
entitled to enter the house through the back door?
I do not share the view that you are such a bad candidate who cannot win an
election unless all your opponents are dead. The point is however moot,
that as a politician under the aegis and shadows of Godswill Akpabio, you
seem to live by his tenets, sharing his vision, not having yours, adopting
his character and abandoning yours, and accepting his aspiration as yours.
If you ever intended on your own to contest election for Governor, you
would have been your own man. I have had an occasion to tell you on
telephone that you have inherited the sludge of Godswill Akpabio’s
political personality by accepting to contest the elections as his
protégée. It seems, you are stuck with him and have to ride out the storm
in that dingy boat and take responsibility for his actions, in the
understanding that whatever he does to us, your opponents, is for your
benefit. In other words whatever you are doing is through Godswill Akpabio.
I wish you well. You must know that the entire Country’s political class
now knows why Governor Akpabio would kill to put you in office. I wish you
could be the man that you are, step out of Akpabio’s shadow, contest the
primaries as your own man, denounce this evil plan publicly now and
distance yourself from it, perchance it happens. Seek for a transparent
contest and let us meet at the congress. This is the only way to assure the
people that you are not a part of the scheme and would want no benefit from
it.
Speaking for myself, I can assure you that no threat can deter me from the
pursuit of a goal I have set for myself and no coercion can force me out of
a match. I will use this forum to warn other aspirants to treat Governor
Akpabio’s threat with the seriousness it deserves. We cannot cower before
him just to make you Governor, otherwise we would have fertilized the
grounds for the next dictator in Akwa Ibom. Since he has put me on notice
of his intention to assassinate me, to make you Governor through the front
door, I have taken certain precautions in the hope that we will not get
there, if you can persuade him. If you can’t persuade him, I will be
waiting for you at the rear door, as the owner of the house, should you
want to use the owner’s entrance.
As always, please accept my best and sincere regards.
Chief Assam E. Assam, SAN
Source: Facebook
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