By Umoh-Obong Kingsley
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| President Muhammadu Buhari |
Elders in Akwa Ibom State, under the
aegis of Elders of the Divine Mandate, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari
to call his Senior Special Assistant on Legislative Matters in the National
Assembly, Senator Ita Enang, to order following the incessant and unwarranted
insults and lies he has meted on the Executive Governor of the State in the
recent times.
The group, in an open letter to the
President, and made available to newsmen, expressed shock and deep
consternation over Sen. Ita Enang’s unwholesome attitude against Governor Udom
Emmanuel, describing the insults as being totally vile and laden with malicious
intent, which the senator, in an undisguised manner, said he speaks on behalf
of the Presidency.
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| Barr Ita Enang |
The letter, jointly signed by Air
Commodore Idongest Nkanga (Rtd), Senators Anietie Okon, Emmanuel Ibokessien,
Effiong Bob, Rt. Hon. Ndueso Essien, Rt. Hon. Dr. Esio Oquong-Udoh, Chief Okon
Essang, Obong Paul Ekpo and Engr. (Obong) Offiong Akpabio, dated April 2, 2016,
reads: “We the Elders of the Divine Mandate have watched with utter shock and
deep consternation, he unwarranted insults and lies your Senior Special
Assistant on Legislative Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, has been
launching against the Governor of our dear State our Leader, His Excellency,
Governor Udom Emmanuel. These insults have been totally vile and laden with
malicious intent and the Senator usually states in an undisguised manner, that
he speaks on behalf of Presidency.
“The sad part of this all is that
the Senator, one of your Principal Aides, lacks a key ingredient of
circumspection and has failed to realise that such lies should not be put out
as conventional wisdom and given wings to fly, and that by engaging in such
activities, he has brought the exalted office of the President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria into the fray of local politics and cause people to wonder
if he is speaking on behalf of the Presidency which he always forcefully
asserts, which we know, is not the case here.
“Mr. President, it may interest you
to know that there are no areas even those that border on the realms of
privacy, no issues, no matter how galling, that the Senator has not come out
with intellectually confounding blackmail and propaganda all aimed at insulting
the office of the Governor of the State and the person of His Excellency, Mr.
Udom Emmanuel. Whenever the Senator comes to Akwa Ibom State, he would appear
on a local radio station and heap insults dripping with disdain, lies and
malice on the Governor. He would speak in a tone and cadence that even some
members of your party have had moments to call us and apologise for the
shocking and morally objectionable tirade the Senator has been launching on the
person and office of the Governor of the State.
“We find it beneath and totally
unseemly for an individual who is a Principal Aide of the President of the
Federal Republic to engage in these sorts of pedestrian reasoning and thoughts.
We find it embarrassing for a Presidential Aide to advertise such ignorance and
crass appeal to base instincts simple because he wants to play to the gallery
and spit all sorts of inanities and obtuse rants.”
It could be recalled that Senator
Ita Enang had recently granted interview to the Planet Radio, a local radio
station in Akwa Ibom State, where he was quoted to have accused Governor Udom
Emmanuel of not paying workers’ salaries, a statement found to be false.
Senator Ita Enang, during his recent
visit to Governor Udom Emmanuel, congratulated him and openly confessed that
the Governor’s election and Supreme Court victory was indeed a Divine
enterprise and told the Governor that “We fought you hard and dirty,” to which
Governor Emmanuel smiled and told him ‘all that was now in the past and that we
should all work together to deliver superior service to the people of Akwa Ibom
State.’
“Mr. President, the 2015
gubernatorial elections had been won and lost and we think the narrow resort to
political posturing by Senator Ita Enang, while claiming to be speaking on
behalf of the Presidency, should give way to robust engagements on how to move
our nation and state forward.
“We would have ignored Sen. Ita
Enang’s insult-laden rants and dismiss him for his rabble-rouser qualities and
tendencies, but as one of your aides, and since he always claim to be speaking
the mind, the voice and interpreting the body language of the President, we
felt we needed to bring this odious behaviour to your attention.
“You are the leader of our nation
and we salute the manner you have stayed above the fray of local politics, the
highly commendable stance you took to allow the Principle of Separation of
Powers and the philosophy of Checks and Balance, deepen our political culture
and engagement. We refuse to believe the lies of Senator Ita Enang that he
speaks on your behalf.
“We wish to please urge you to call
him to order and advise him to face his job squarely, pay attention to details
and not continue to embarrass the Presidency as he did with the recent budget
presentation that he so royally bungled, an act that embarrassed you and the
entire nation.
“The good people of Akwa Ibom State
are fed up with his antics. Governor Udom Emmanuel is the duly elected Governor
of our state, he enjoys our unflinching support and unalloyed confidence and we
will ride with him. He has demonstrated in his short ten months that the choice
we made in him as our Governor was God’s choice. He has engendered a new
thinking in our State and inspired our people to rise up (dakkada) and claim
the faith of greatness, he has taken bold steps to diversify the economy. He
has demystified governance and demonstrated that we are all accountable to the
people, who hired us to work for them. The people are with him and he enjoys
their robust support,” the letter further reads.
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