Ibomites for Progressive Governance (IPG), a social-political organization, has admonished the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, for discrediting the office of the Senate President with false claims.
According to a report, the group was reacting to a statement credited to Sen. Akpabio in which he allegedly claimed that he sent his wife, Ekaette Akpabio, with a letter to the Government House, Uyo, wherein he requested to pay a courtesy visit to the immediate past governor of the state, Mr Udom Emmanuel, but that his wife was stopped at the gate.
The report stated that while speaking at the reception held in his honour at Ikot-Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, at the weekend, Sen. Akpabio reportedly claimed that his wife was left at the gate of the Government House for hours without access to enter the premises.
However, IPG’s National Secretary, Chris Effiong, refuted this claim, describing it as a “cheap lie.”
Effiong pointed out that there was no record of such an incident and that it was highly unlikely that the wife of a Senate President would be left at a government house gate for an extended period. He further noted that as a former First Lady, Mrs. Akpabio would not be traveling alone but with a retinue of aides, including media personnel.
“The truth is that no such incident ever happened. Mrs. Akpabio was never left at the gate of Government House, Uyo, as falsely stated by her husband, Senator Akpabio. It appears that this is a figment of Senator Akpabio’s imagination,” Effiong said.
Effiong emphasized that Akpabio’s statement was a form of “cheap blackmail” and urged the Senate President to present evidence of the incident if it were true. He added that no former First Lady would be left waiting for five hours without any pictorial or video evidence, given that she would be accompanied by her media team.
The IPG suggested that Akpabio’s animosity towards former Akwa Ibom Governor Udom Emmanuel might be driving these false claims. The group cautioned the Senate President against making unguarded statements that could discredit the office he holds.
“Akpabio should stop these intentional lies he manufactures against the former governor and understand that by his unguarded utterances, he is discrediting the exalted office of the Senate President of Nigeria,” Effiong concluded.
