PRESS RELEASE!
The attention of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State has been drawn to a false story by agents of the state government that the party in the state has criticised the reconstitution of the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Dismissing the publication which appeared in the Global Pilot, a trashy tabloid promoted by the Udom Emmanuel administration, as absolute falsehood, the party said the story was a pure fabrication by the PDP-led government as no leader of the APC in the state has commented on the new board of the NNPC.
The reference by the state government propaganda to a radio interview granted by the director-general of the APC governorship campaign in the 2015 election as a criticism of the appointments at the NNPC is ludicrous. The interview took place more than five months before the President made the NNPC appointments. How could the director-general of the APC governorship campaign organisation have criticised appointments that had not been made at the time of the interview, and would not be made until more than a month after the interview?
The state APC has dismissed the view that presidential aide Garba Shehu was addressing Akwa Ibom APC leaders when he suggested that those who were not satisfied with the composition of the NNPC board could seek redress in court. The party described the insinuation in the Akwa Ibom State government propaganda as a despicable over-reach that is totally unsupported by facts since the state APC or any of its leaders has not challenged the President’s appointments into the new board of the NNPC.
The state government media propaganda had stated that “President Muhammadu Buhari has finally reacted to agitations by some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom state that their members have again been overlooked in the reconstituted board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.” But that claim is completely false. The party or its leaders in the state has not issued any statement on the reconstitution of the board of the NNPC.
The false claim is consistent with the practice of the state government in the last one year, during which it has fabricated lies against the APC as a way of distracting public attention each time the state governor, Udom Emmanuel faces adverse public reaction to his serial acts of indiscretion. The latest false story is an attempt to distract attention from mounting public criticism of the governor for destroying the house of a 90-year-old man on the ground that the house was a mud-and-wattle structure that constituted a blight to the surroundings where Udom’s new palatial home is located in his village, Awa Iman, in Onna local government area.
The resort by the Udom Emmanuel administration to false propaganda in vain attempts to take away attention from crises engulfing the state governor has evolved into a distressing pattern. In the recent past we listed previous instances. The pattern is expected to continue as the state governor fumbles along in office.
Signed:
Chief Ita Awak
APC State Publicity Secretary
