The invasion of the Akwa Ibom
Government House, Uyo by men of the Department of State Services, DSS, has
received the backing of Political Elders, stakeholders and leaders of thoughts
from the state.
The leaders, who, on Saturday,
declared support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti corruption stance,
hailed the DSS for the search of the state Government House.
The group, in a statement signed by
former minister of women affairs, Obong Rita Akpan-Ibesikpo, said there was
need for all Nigerians to support the president in his bid to fight corruption
and terrorism.
The group condemned what they called
attack on the DSS by some “cheerleaders and paid groups who hide under the
cover of Akwa Ibom leaders forum and other proxy groups to ferment trouble
against the legally constituted security agency like the Department of State
Security Services,” describing the attack as unnecessary and embarrassing.
“We were surprised by the rather
inconsistent, indecent and amateurish manner with which the governor, Mr. Udom
Emmanuel handled the whole matter. Though, Udom has asked people to remain
calm, he has been surreptitiously orchestrating and funding all manner of press
conferences and advertorials in national and local newspapers aimed at
blackmailing, embarrassing and ridiculing both the DSS and the federal
government under President Buhari,” the group said.
They wondered why the governor was
“whipping up sentiments and emotions to curry political support from the masses
in something that is clearly a security issue.
“We are very confident that the DSS
must have depended on reliable intelligence before they visited Akwa Ibom State
to conduct the search.
“Contrary to the wrong impression
deliberately created by the PDP propaganda machinery and Udom Emmanuel himself,
the fact of the matter is that the DSS officials only visited the presidential
Lodge in Uyo, one of the several guest Houses owned by the Akwa Ibom State
Government. We should state that at no time did the DSS officials visit the
official residence of the governor, his office or Mr. Udom’s private residence
because as at the time of the visit, the Presidential Lodge of the government
House was occupied by Mr. Godswill Obot Akpabio, the former governor.
“We believe that the DSS is yet to
make a statement on their visitation because the investigation is still
ongoing. Until the investigation is concluded, it is therefore very premature,
irresponsible and smack of guilt for Udom and his cheerleaders to condemn and
vilify the Federal Authority.”
The leaders however warned the
governor and other PDP members to desist forthwith from distracting security
agencies from carrying out their constitutional duties.
Those present at the press conference
included the former Minister of Women Affairs and social welfare, Obong Rita
Akpan-Ibesikpo ; former Majority leader of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly,
Dr Etido Ibekwe – Essien Udim ; wife of former Governor of the State,
Obonganwan Imo Isemin – Etinan ; the political leader of Uyo, Obong Maurice
Ebong, that of Etinan, Chief Sunny Jackson, Ikot Ekpene and Chief Sunny Ibanga.
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