PAPAJ Warns PDP Chair Over Ties With APC

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…PAPAJ director also accused Governor Eno of “proliferating party chairmen” by allegedly working with Akpan.

UYO, NIGERIA  – The iNews Times | PDP Advocates of Peace and Justice (PAPAJ) has issued a strong warning to the Akwa Ibom State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Aniekan Akpan, over his alleged frequent attendance at political events organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement signed by PAPAJ’s Executive Director, Dr. Tom FredFish, and made available to journalists in Uyo on Friday, the group accused Akpan of undermining the PDP’s interests at a critical political period in the state’s history.

FredFish stated that the chairman’s repeated presence at events promoting APC’s Arise Agenda was a violation of party loyalty and a deviation from the political culture that guides party-based politics worldwide. According to PAPAJ, such actions were sending the wrong message to PDP members, especially in the wake of Governor Umo Eno’s recent defection to the APC.

He accused Akpan of failing to provide the kind of decisive and united leadership the PDP needs to withstand infiltration by opposition forces.

“Mr. Aniekan Akpan cannot fulfil the desire of Governor Umo Eno to imitate the anti-democratic behaviour of Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister, of belonging to two political parties by using the PDP chairman to hold forth in the PDP while he is a registered member of the APC,” FredFish said.

The PDP chieftain went on to say that since the governor had formally moved to the APC, Akpan should sever political alignment with him and instead concentrate on rebuilding the PDP from the grassroots.

FredFish described Akpan’s presence at APC gatherings as “irritating,” claiming that it revealed where his true political allegiance lay.

“There are many indications that Mr. Aniekan Akpan’s body is in PDP while his heart is in APC. He cannot be the PDP chairman at this moment when the party needs sincere and result-oriented leadership. It is irritating that Aniekan Akpan has become so bored that he is willing to sit comfortably in an APC gathering that he has no useful role to play. How many such events in PDP did the APC chairman attend when the governor was in the PDP?” he queried.

The PAPAJ director also accused Governor Eno of “proliferating party chairmen” by allegedly working with Akpan to promote APC’s agenda while still holding a PDP position — a move he said was contrary to democratic norms and principles.

FredFish further criticised Akpan for “proudly adorning the emblem of the Arise Agenda on his chest,” calling it a public show of loyalty to the APC administration.

He therefore called on the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Umar Damagum, to intervene immediately and address the situation, warning that failure to act could weaken the PDP’s position in Akwa Ibom ahead of future elections.