OBONG VICTOR ATTAH:OUR LAST GOVERNOR UNTIL GOD BRINGS ANOTHER. [OPINION]O

Obong Attah

by Omen Bassey
"A functioning, robust democracy requires a healthy, educated,participatory followership,and an educated, morally grounded leadership "----Chinua Achebe.
Obong Attah was Governor of Akwa Ibom State between 1999 and 2007.To the best of my knowledge, he is the only Governor of the State in this democracy who fits Achebe's recommendation of a knowledge based and morally grounded leadership.
Attah's thorough education cannot be debated even by his most ardent critics.His logic is often difficult to fault.He deployed his depth of intellect a great deal during his stint as Governor, particularly during the epic struggle for the abrogation of the Onshore/Offshore Dichotomy.That soundness of reasoning, again came handy in his comments on the Supreme Court judgements on Akwa Ibom and Rivers States governorship election disputes.
Out of that sound mind emerged today's Akwa Ibom State despite the paucity of funds then, occasioned by the introduction of the obnoxious oil dichotomy which made payment of salaries a huge challenge in the State. Out of his glorious era emerged L' Meridian Hotel, Independent Power Project (IPP),airport, Akwa Ibom State University, dualization of Oron Road from Ibom plaza to the airport, dualization of Nwaniba road from Oron road (near the plaza) to L' Meridien,construction of the 2nd phase of Idongesit Nkanga Secretariat(arguably the best in the country),construction of Edet Akpan Avenue(four lanes),Nsikak Eduok Avenue(two lanes) ,Atiku Abubakar Way, Uyo-Abak Road, hospitals and schools were built/renovated and rural electrification projects undertaken across the State.
I'm always appalled when people, deceived by propaganda try to portray Uyo as one big bush before the advent of the defeaning noise of 2007 to 2015.Residents of Uyo who have not abandoned their memories would remember that many of the arterial roads currently enjoyed in Uyo were tarred by the Attah administration.We admit some of the local contractors patronized by that government couldn't deliver quality jobs.But we cannot also fault the determination of Obong Attah to halt capital flight.Despite the lean purse of that administration,we witnessed how Akwa Ibom money circulated in the State.
I believe our indigenous construction companies would have achieved an appreciable level of expertise if his successors had sustained that legacy.The ill-advised attempts by his successor to either appropriate or obliterate Attah's legacies is partly responsible for our failure to maximize the opportunities offered by the revenue boom of 2007-2015.
Obong Attah is a thinker, visionary and long distance runner.He worked to lay the foundation for the industrialization of the State and he did it systematically. Not noisy ground-breakings and a phantom paints factory in Etinan.
It's instructive that most Akwa Ibom people never knew Obong Attah's village nor did they know his siblings and cousins. Government wasn't a family affair.At times I wonder how we got here.
From 2007 till date,governance in Akwa Ibom State has been reduced to a pedestrian affair.Every Governor now wants to replicate Government House in his village.Throughout his tenure,Obong Attah lived and conducted every government business in Government House.(It wasnt nearly as beautiful as it is today)He only managed to build a modest duplex in Shelter Afrique towards the end of his second term.
The man himself has announced several times that his administration received less than Five Hundred Billion Naira (‪#‎500b‬) in eight years.This was about one annual budget of his successor.And that was what he spent to achieve all that he did.Ironically, his successor, a self styled Uncommon Transformer has never found the courage to disclose what the State earned as revenue under his watch.Even the debt profile of the State as at the day he handed over, is one of the best kept secrets in the world, and perhaps Governor Udom Emmanuel's greatest achievement so far.
I'm proud to identify with this Icon as my former Governor. He's undoubtedly intellectually deep, morally sound,broad minded and disciplined. He combined sound character with workable vision. Ever since he left Hilltop Mansion in May 2007,we are yet to have a Governor who embodies all these virtues.
When will God bless us with another sound mind and moral voice like Obong Victor Attah?
I hope not too long from now.
Omen Bassey is a Public Relations Consultant.

MY ORIGINAL CRIME WAS OPPOSING MUSLIM-MUSLIM APC PRESIDENTIAL TICKET – SARAKI DISCLOSES

Embattled Nigerian Senate President Bukola Saraki has chosen to bring the hush-hush of APC politics to the open. In his response letter to Ovation publisher Dele Momodu, Mr Saraki has made several scintillating revelations as unspoken reasons for his persecution by the leadership of his party APC, a key reason being his opposition of a planned Muslim running mate for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 elections.

Along with other arguments of his’, one of which is the fact that the same judge who is overseeing his current trial at the Code of Conducts Bureau had some years ago tried the present APC leader Bola Tinubu and had acquitted him, a trial the judge today refers to as an error of his, these scintillating revelations carve an ugly dent in the APC-led federal government’s much touted anti-corruption war.

Here;

My dear brother Dele, let me thank you most sincerely for your article last weekend, “My Candid Letter to Saraki.” I take everything you said in that article to heart and I must commend you for your candidness indeed and the sincerity of your intentions.

As you said in your article, you are someone I have known more by reputation than by any personal relationship, until recently when we struck up some personal acquaintance based on our shared political interests, especially during the last presidential election. However, I understand why you had to sound so defensive for knowing me at all and had to publicly map the boundaries of our relationship. We have got to that point in our country when we no longer believe that anyone could stand for anything based on principles and convictions alone. Moreover, in the growing culture of media crucifixion and presumed guilt; it is rare to find a voice like yours that calls for fairness and justice.

I would have simply sent you a text message or call you up for your candid advice to me, which I take seriously. But I feel the need to make some clarifications on some of the issues you raised. One of them was that in seeking to be Senate President, I struck a deal with the PDP and made it possible for one of them to be the Deputy Senate President. I know this is the dominant narrative out there, but it is far from the truth.

I did not do any deal with the PDP. I did not have to because even before the PDP Senators as a group took the decision to support my candidature on the eve of the inauguration of the 8th Senate, 22 PDP Senators had already written a letter supporting me. What I did not envisage was a situation where some members of my party would not be in the chambers that day, especially when the clerk had already received a proclamation from the President authorizing the inauguration of the Senate. Pray, if a team refused to turn up for a scheduled match and was consequently walked over, would it be fair to blame the team that turned up and claimed victory? I believe those that made it possible for PDP to claim the DSP position were those who decided to hold a meeting with APC senators elsewhere at the time they ought to be in the chambers. What the PDP Senators did was to take advantage of their numerical strength at the material time. They simply lined up behind Senator Ike Ekweremadu while those of us from APC voted for Senator Ali Ndume. It was a game of numbers, and we were hopelessly outnumbered. If the PDP had nominated their own candidate for the Senate Presidency position that day, they would have won. It was as simple as that.

Secondly, I don’t know if you were aware that in the build up to Senate inauguration, the National Working Committee of the APC sent two signals. The first signal specified how leadership positions in the National Assembly have been zoned. While we were trying to give effect to this decision, the second signal came, which contained names of people to which these zoned position had been allocated. What was not acknowledged was that the President of the Senate is not an executive president. He is primarily one of 109 senators. Therefore, I cannot decide by myself who gets what in the Senate. Therefore, when they said I defied party directive in the choice of principal officers, they are invariably ascribing to me the power that I did not have.

My dear brother, most people talk about the Senate Presidency position, but this was not my only offence. I have also been accused of helping to frustrate some people’s opportunity to emerge as President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate. But I have no problem with anybody. My concern was that it would not be politically smart of us to run with a Muslim-Muslim ticket. I doubt if we would have won the election if we had done this, especially after the PDP had successfully framed us a Muslim party. I felt we were no longer in 1993. Perhaps, more than ever before, Nigerians are more sensitive to issues of religious balancing. This, my brother, was my original sin. What they say to themselves, among other things, was that if he could conspire against our ambition, then he must not realize his own ambition as well. For me however, I have no regrets about this. I only stood for what I believed was in the best interest of the party and in the best interest of Nigeria.

Now to the substantive issue of my trial. As you rightly noted, this trial is not about corruption. And I am happy that since my trial started, people who have followed the proceedings have now understood better what the whole thing is about. I have had opportunity to declare my assets four times since 2003. Over those years, the Code of Conduct Bureau had examined my claims. There was no time that they raised any issues with me on any item contained in my declarations over those twelve years. This is why you should be surprised that while I am being tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the witness and the evidence supplied against me were all from EFCC.

Like you, I have an abiding faith in the judiciary. May God forbid the day that we would give up on our judicial system. However, the onus is not on me to prove that I have confidence in the judiciary; the burden is on my prosecutors to prove to the world that justice is done in my case. If the process of fighting corruption is itself corrupt, then whatever victory is recorded would remain tainted and puerile!

Some people have wondered, why has Saraki been “jumping” from one court to another instead of facing his trial? To those people, I would say that I have only gone to those courts in search of justice. Strange things have happened, and they are still happening. For example, Section 3(d) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act states that the Bureau shall refer any breach or non-compliance to the Tribunal. However, where the person concerned makes a written admission of the breach, no reference to the Tribunal shall be necessary. It was on this basis that the case against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was dismissed in 2011, by this same judge in this same Tribunal on the grounds that he was not given an opportunity to deny or admit to any breach before he was brought before the tribunal. This was the ruling that I relied on in making my case. But what did the judge say? That he had judged in error in 2011 and he had since realized his error and departed from it. My question is whether a Tribunal of first instance has the power to reverse itself. I should expect that everyone would be worried if justice is applied differently to different people. However, in spite of my fears, I remain hopeful. Why? Because the judiciary does not end with this Tribunal.

Do you know the genesis of my real problems with President Goodluck Jonathan? I have had a touchy relationship with him, but the turning point was in September 2011 when I moved a motion on the floor of the Senate that exposed the N2.3 trillion fuel subsidy racket. I remain proud that I was the Senator that blew the lid on the most elaborate corruption scheme ever in this country. But after that I became a marked man. My security was withdrawn. I was invited and re-invited by the EFCC and the Special Fraud Unit. I was even declared wanted at a point. I believe I am still one of the most investigated former governors in this country. I have no doubt that if the Jonathan government was able to find anything against me, they would not have allowed me to go unpunished.

Let me make this point clearly. I do not expect to be shielded from prosecution because of my contribution to APC, if there was genuine basis for such action to be taken against me. But I have every reason to expect not to be persecuted by the party that I contributed so much to build. The New PDP may not have given APC victory in 2015, but it was an important factor in the dynamics that produced that victory. And with all sense of modesty, I was an important factor in the formation of New PDP; in leading that group to the APC; in ensuring our group’s support for the candidate during the primaries and in mobilizing substantial resources for the election. For these, I have not expected any special compensation. Rather, I only expect to be treated like every loyal party member and accorded the right to freely aspire!

Some people have complained that I have been taking Senators with me to my trial. But I did not force them to follow me. The Senators have freely accompanied me to the Tribunal not because they are loyal to me as Abubakar Bukola Saraki, but because they are committed to the principle that produced me as the President of the Senate. The same principle that produced Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President and produced Ali Ndume as Majority Leader. They see all of us in the Senate leadership as manifestation of their jealously guarded right to freely choose their own leaders. Because they know they made us their leaders without any external interference; they are confident that they retain the power to remove us whenever they so wish. They also know what this trial is all about. They believe I am being victimized because they have expressed their right to choose their own leadership. This is why I am not in any way perturbed by my absence in the chambers during this trial. Because I was not imposed on the Senate, I feel confident that the Senate will protect its own choice whether I am present or not. It is never about me. It is about the independence of the legislature. It has always been so since 1999. It is so today and it would be so in 2019, it would be so in 2023, and as long as we practice a democracy that operates on the principle of separation of powers.

My dear brother, let me end by observing that I am not alone in this trial. On trial with me in this process is the entire judicial system. On trial with me are our entire anti-corruption institutions and our avowed commitment to honestly fight corruption. On trial with me is our party’s promise to depart from the ways of the past, a promise that Nigerians voted for. And I dare say, on trial with me is our media; and their ethical commitment to report fairly and objectively. In the end, it is my earnest hope that whatever we do will ultimately ennoble our country.

– Dr. Saraki is President of the Senate, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Reported by Uduak Umo

Sahara Reporters Sponsored smear campaign against Governor Udom Emmanuel

By Okon Tom
For some time now, Sahara Reportersowned by Omoyele Sowore has been on a mission to smear and disparage the sterling image and reputation of the Governor of Akwa Ibom state,  Mr. Udom Emmanuel through the publication of insidious and factually vacuous reports.
When Sahara Reporters  made its debut almost ten years ago, it was a desirable platform whose citizens’ journalism and activism reminded one of the America’s Muck-raking at the turn of the Twentieth Century, whose reportage and its messianic mission was to sanitize the stench that had arisen from the Gilded Age capitalism that had run amok, and to help push the agenda of the Progressive Era in American politics.
The activities of the Muck-rakers whose motto was to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” profoundly changed the way public policy was formulated and made America a more humane society where capitalism had a human face with attendant corporate social responsibly.
The great thing with Muck-rakers was that they concentrated their reportage on issues and not on individuals; their reports were not coloured by prejudice or a mission to witch-hunt or to carry the agenda of certain individuals or groups and use such to hound, blackmail or out rightly publish falsehood about certain individuals whom they don’t agree with or whose politics they don’t like.
Sahara Reporters which fashioned itself along the lines of Muck-rakers have since lost its initial luster, credibility and integrity. It has descended to a platform where truth is violated, where facts are no longer sacred. Sahara Reporters seem to have singled out Akwa Ibom State and the PDP-led government of Governor Udom Emmanuel and has engaged in serial witch-hunting and nit-picking expedition to create issues where such does not exist.
Last year, Sahara Reporters acting the script of its sponsors went to town with a false report that the immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State, the Senate Minority Leader, and Senator Godswill Akpabio’s election had been nullified by the Appeal Court.  To show how reckless it has been with facts, and in a hurry to carry out the agenda of its sponsors, the editors did not care to tell its readers that the Appeal Court had not yet met, and as a matter of fact, the case was not billed for hearing until the next day, yet Sahara Reporters published the false story and had eggs thrown all over its face.
One would have thought that having eaten the humble pie that the editors of theSahara Reporters would be more circumspect with facts, but they seem to be in a hurry to manufacture more lies and massage the ego of their sponsors.
Consider the latest publication where it stated that Governor Udom Emmanuel had completed and furnished a mansion four months after taking office. It was the same Sahara Reporters that said the ‘’mansion”  was constructed shortly after he was sworn in. Now, they are saying he built the mansion four months after he was inaugurated.
Governor Udom Emmanuel until he was appointed the Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government (SSG) and subsequently elected the Governor of Akwa Ibom State April 11, 2015 was a hugely successful Financial Services Stakeholder. He was on the board of numerous highly profitable companies and was the Executive Director of easily one of the most consequential banks in Africa-Zenith.
Governor Emmanuel is a known philanthropist who had touched thousands of lives and his work in the vineyard of the Lord is legendary. Are the editors ofSahara Reporters saying that Governor Udom Emmanuel cannot afford a regular four -bedroom home?
There is no doubt that the editors ofSahara Reporters are writing the scripts of its sponsors, but they should be reminded that the election of 2015 has been won and lost and engaging in some wild goose chase is nothing but an exercise in futility.
The editors of Sahara Reporters should challenge their sponsors to prove to Nigerians that they are capable of leading our people and ensuring a future where they can aspire and dream. They should ask Nigerians if they are better off today than they were a year ago instead of engaging in obtuse and inane witch-hunt. They should train their guns on some of its sponsors who are unable to pay salaries of their workers or where a huge disconnect exits between the expectations of the led and the leaders.
 Governor Udom Emmanuel has in the face of dwindling resources, managed to pay workers salaries and compensations, kept his campaign promises and one would love to extend an invitation to the editors of the Sahara Reporters to come to Akwa Ibom State and see what Governor Udom Emmanuel has achieved through infrastructural expansion and concrete industrialization push in  just eleven months.  That way, they will be forced to challenge their sponsors and tell them to leave Akwa Ibom State alone, that Governor Udom Emmanuel is working and the people are happy and in support of his efforts.
Mr. Okon Tom is a public affairs analyst, based in Lagos

AKWA IBOM IS GREEN WITH INVESTMENT PROSPECTS - NIGERIA POLICE BOSS

The Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase on a visit on Wednesday to the Akwa Ibom State Governor at the Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Uyo, described described Akwa Ibom as a green environment with natural attraction for investors.
The number one Police Cops who did not mince words on his emotional attachment to
the State described his Stay as Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State as a preparatory ground for the discharge of his duties as Inspector General of Police in the country.
“Since I left here, I have been interested in happenings within the State because of my emotional attachment to Akwa Ibom State. Most of the things I did while I was here as Commissioner of Police, was as if I was rehearsing what I would operationalize when I become the Inspector General. So it is very easy for me to take a look at what I did in Akwa Ibom State and replicate it at the National level .”
The Police Boss acknowledged that Akwa Ibom State has become a green spot which has attracted foreign investors and sued for continuous strengthening of the security structure stressing that no State can develop socially, economically and politically without a strong security syste.

The Akwa Ibom State Governor Mr Udom Emmanuel lauded the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force for their ingenuity in mitigating crime in the state to pave way for investors visiting the State to explore the abundant green investment opportunities for their businesses.

He congratulated Mr Arase on his elevation to the highest hierarchy in the Nigeria Police Force attributing his meteoric rise in the profession to his devotion to duty and application of professionalism in combating crime in the country adding that Mr Arase aptly demonstrated this during his brief tenure as Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command. "You have passed through the Force and the Force has passed through you that is why you are one of the best Inspector General of Police Nigeria has ever had. I want to congratulate you on behalf of the people of Akwa Ibom State, we are proud of your achievements and records" He remarked.
The Governor who described the Police Inspector General’s working-visit to the State as home coming charged public officers to strive to leave positive legacies wherever they serve. "You left us as Commissioner and now you are visiting as lnspector General of Police. This warm reception accorded you by the people of the State should be a great lesson for other public officers. In what ever we do, let us believe that we need fellow human beings to succeed." He said the legacies left behind by Mr Arase was evergreen in the hearts of every Akwa Ibom citizen.
The State Governor announced plans to relocate the A' Division of the Police Barracks and the Federal Prisons along Wellington Bassey Way to a befitting location to make way for expansion work at the Government House. "We have acquired land and we want to build something better than what we are seeing presently at that barrack. The Station was built over fifty years ago, the structure there is at variance with contemporary Architecture" .
He commended the Police Inspector General for giving approval for the commencement of the project. His words, We notified you that we wanted to relocate the barracks near Government House so that we can extend the Government House a little further, you did not hesitate to give us approval. Negotiation is on with the Nigerian Prisons that is why we have not stated work there. I assure you that we will give you a modern structure worth your approval.
He said his administration has allotted a prime place for security in all plans and policies and is committed to supporting security agencies in the State to carry out their duties effectively.
"Our State is rated green today in terms of security. Security to us is uppermost in our daily reviews and plans. Even in the prevailing fuel scarcity, I don’t think the Police Force has experienced it because we have established fuel dump in all the barracks to enhance their smooth operations. My kudos goes to your men and the Commissioner of Police . As a Governor, I will stop at nothing to attain to the welfare needs of the Police because they have committed their all to fight crime in the state, He stated.
The State Chief Executive expressed appreciation to the Police Boss for the morale booster to officers of the force by providing scholarship and residential Estates on owner occupier bases and assured of land for the construction of the apartments for the Officers in the state.


Mr Arase expressed appreciation to the people for the honour done him and commended Governor Emmanuel for his support to the Akwa Ibom State Command of the Nigeria Police Force explaining that he decided not sit at the comfort of his office to conceptualise internal security of the country without putting a face to the issues that his men are facing in the field.

Leave Benji Udobia Alone, Esit Eket not Boiling - Youths warn political jobbers

Youths of Esit Eket Local Government Area under the aegis of Esit Eket Consultative Youth Assembly have risen in support of their revered political leader, Elder Benjamin Udobia citing his uncommon qualities of selfless service in leadership and unbiased headship. This was contained in a letter dated 2nd April 2016, addressed to the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and made available to the media.

The youths said it became necessary for the forum to reinforce their endorsement of Elder Udobia following an attempt by an out-of-favour group of Esit Eket indigenes seeking to criticize his leadership through a petition described by the Esit Eket youths as a “publication by dissident youths”. The publication had sought to insinuate that Elder Udobia was showing political favours to members of his family attempting to cast aspersion on the statesman’s reputation.

But dismissing the petition as a handiwork of dissident youths sponsored by self-seeking mischief making political bigots, the Esit Eket Consultative Youth Assembly stated; “Elder Udobia has been very fair, equitable and just in recommending distribution of political offices in the Local Government.” The group reeled out names of some of the petitioners who have politically benefitted immensely politically under the leadership of Elder Udobia thus, “it will interest you to know that some of the petitioners are either still in government or have enjoyed a term or two in government. For instance, Mr. Edohouqua, Godwin Paul is a supervisor in the present Esit Eket Transition Committee. Again, Hon. Aniefiok Akpadiaha has been a councilor who represented Ward 5 in Esit Eket Local Government Council. Shortly after his tenure, the said Hon. Aniefiok Akpadiaha was re-appointed as the supervisor for environment during the immediate past administration in Esit Eket (2012-2015).”

They further stated that, “the immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State, His Excellency, Senator Godswill Akpabio, donated a brand new bus to Mr. Godwin M. Peter. The said Mr. Godwin M. Peter was a delegate during the last general elections. Interestingly,none of the above mentioned is a member Elder Udobia’s family.”

The agitated youths said that, “We have to make the above revelations because the petitioners have alleged that the political Leader is sentimental in his leadership and that they (the petitioners) have been excluded from the activities of the party.”

The assembly seized the opportunity to commend Elder Udobia for the good fortunes that he has brought to the area since his ascension to leadership, maintaining that under his watch as deputy director general of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s campaign organization, Esit Eket gave 100% of their votes to PDP; and even when results were cancelled in some other Local Government Areas by the Elections petition tribunal, Esit Eket was not affected.

The letter, signed by 10 leaders of the assembly, expressed appreciation for the administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel and went further to articulate their satisfaction in the political leadership of Elder Ben Udobia.