Akwa Ibom 2023: Group wades into APC crisis, inaugurates interim committee

The inauguration of the interim committee, according to the group, became necessary following the alleged leadership crisis rocking the party in the state where there are divergent interests and tussles among the leaders.

In a statement read by the Publicity Secretary of AAA, Captain Effiong Eyo during a stakeholders’ meeting held on Wednesday at Amunice Event Centre, Uyo, the state capital, the group said it would no longer keep quiet and allow the party be destroyed by self-serving persons and the leadership.

The group recalled that it was the same leadership crisis that made APC suffer defeat in both the 2015 and 2019 elections in the state, saying that it would not wait for the same scenario to be repeated in the 2023 elections.

The statement in parts, “We have watched with dismay the way and manner APC in Akwa Ibom State is managed, it is time for us to all rise and say no to bad leadership, confusion in the party.

“It is on record that while the APC reconciliation groups in the state led by Senator John Udoedeghe, Akwa Ibom APC Coalition(AAC), Senator Ita Enang APC Bridge Builder (ABB), Group Captain Sam Enwang and Senator Godswill Akpabio(Akwa Ibom Democratic Forum, (ADF) were invited, they were unable to put their selfish interest aside and work towards our party’s victory in 2023. AAA can no longer sit aside and watch the destruction of a party we helped to build.

“After wide consultations and discussions with members of our party, APC support groups and others for the way forward, we have all agreed that the APC in Akwa Ibom State should be administered by an interim committee devoid of any member of the four APC factions in the state. This will give us strength, love, unity, peace progress and the needed strength to go for victory in the 2023 elections.”

Meanwhile, Engr Larry Esin, who was the gubernatorial flag bearer of the Congress for Progressive Change CPC in 2011, emerged as the leader of AAA in the state while Hon Engr Ime Mbom emerged as the chairman of the committee.