Reactions trail the incarceration of the governorship candidate of YPP, Akwa Ibom State, Senator Bassey Akpan

Reactions have continued to trail the incarceration of the governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, Akwa Ibom State, Senator Bassey Akpan.

Track News reports that Senator Akpan, who is also representing Uyo Senatorial district, is cooling his feet at the Ikot Ekpene Correctional Centre for money laundering and graft.

Akpan was convicted by Justice Agatha Okeke of the Federal High Court Uyo on a six-count charge bordering on money laundering and receipt of exotic cars worth two hundred and four million naira (N204m) from a businessman, Jide Omokoro when he was the Finance Commissioner.

The vehicles received by the Senator included: a BMW X5 (Bulletproof) worth N50 million; in December 2012 another Infinity QX 56(bulletproof) worth N45 million and 4 other luxury vehicles worth millions of naira each.

The Senator never denied the allegations as he explained that those vehicles were given to him as gifts for his campaigns in 2014.

In line with the provisions of Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021 and in contravention of section 15(12)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2011, as (amended) and punishable by section 15(3) of the same Act, the Senator who was found guilty by the presiding judge was sentenced seven years in prison in each of the charge which would run concurrently, day and night.

That is to say that if the case is not upturned at the appellate court, as the Senator had already appealed, he would likely spend three and half years in custody.

However, five days behind bars, Akpan’s discourse has continued to resonate across the corners of the State from both the elite and the ordinary citizens of the State to the Free Readers Association who converge every morning at Ibom plaza, which is the centre and beehive of activities in Uyo metropolis.

Vendors display their newspapers in a corner of the ever busy Ibom plaza and men who cut across all age brackets would gather like ants attracted by honey to look at newspaper headlines and make engaging arguments which in most cases are on top of their voices.

Unfortunately, the incident of December 1 has continued to send chills in the spines of his supporters as so many of them from investigations are yet to recover from the shock, though some of his followers, a day after defected to the PDP where they were welcomed by the governor.

Until his incarceration, Senator Akpan also known as OBA was a force to reckon with and was bulldozing the nooks and crannies of the State gaining more supporters ahead of the 2023 elections.

Earlier, he raised the alarm that the governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel planned to commit him into prison by bringing up his money laundering case so that it would pave the way for the emergence of his anointed candidate, Pastor Umo Eno of the Peoples Democratic Party.

That is to say that the judgement did not come as a surprise to the Senator and his team as they had a premonition of the outcome of the case.

However, the governor had since denied the allegation and warned peddlers against roping him into Akpan’s ordeal, stressing that he was not even a governor when the case was instituted against him (Senator Akpan) by the EFCC.

The governor lamented, “I entered Abuja, everybody was calling me saying this candidate said you want to imprison him. This matter came even before I became the governor. I don’t know the facts of the case, I’m not a judge, I don’t know anything. Those people that have cases with EFCC, should go and sort out their cases and just leave blackmail and propaganda.”

Few days after the governor’s statement, OBA’s worst fears became a reality and the immediacy of getting off the legal hook was still in doubt.

One of the governor’s media aides, Rev Richard Peters had staked his neck at different occasions in defence of the Governor’s innocence over Senator Akpan’s travails.

He said, ”a cursory look into the character of Governor Udom Emmanuel clearly shows that he doesn’t play politics of bitterness and hatred. The Governor is a man that believes in the rule of law and respects democratic principles.

“It amounts to gross ignorance and it is strange to attempt to perceive the governor as a vindictive clown, an attempt that has already failed a reality test. Governor Udom Emmanuel will continue to play politics with human face and good conscience and no amount of deceit peddled around can change this glaring fact.”

But, the Chairman, Forum of Civil Societies Organisations in Akwa Ibom, Dr Harry Udoh said OBA’s incarceration was not devoid of political undertones, saying that the manner in which he was thrown into prison had invariably won the sympathy of the public and would make some indecisive voters to vote him