Election Result Sparks Fresh Ethnic War In Akwa Ibom

Election Result Sparks Fresh Ethnic War In Akwa Ibom

THE result of the National Assembly elections in Akwa Ibom State, has sparked off a renewed ethnic strife between the Annang and the Ibibio in the state. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) however, swept the polls amid protest by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

A seeming worrisome text message currently making the round on cellphones suspected to be circulated by some trouble-makers on the platform of Afe Annang, a socio-cultural organisation of the Annang people, is congratulating the Governor Godswill Akpabio's kinsmen, for ''teaching the Ibibio people a lesson'' in last Saturday's elections.

The text message which was also received by a correspondent of AkanimoReports in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Tuesday described the Ibibio people as ''ineffective majority'' in the state.

The message reads: ''Afe and Ati Annang hereby congratulate the Annang nation for teaching the Ibibio a lesson in the last Saturday elections. They are forever, the ineffective majority in Akwa Ibom state. With our Oron brothers, we must get ready to disgrace them in the gubernatorial race. Keep this message restricted to patriotic Annangs only''.

Secretary of Akwa Ibom Elders for Positive Change, Fred Archibong, in a swift reaction said, appointments into public offices are allegedly used to entrenched ethnicity in the state.

According to him, ''payment vouchers for contrats done in the state judiciary for instance, are treated on the basis of the ethnic group of the contractor. Ibibio and Oron contractors who have executed projects for the state, are being blocked from getting their payment, while those from Annang are smiling to the bank''.

ACN governorship candidate in the state, John Akpan-Udoedehe, said there are many devices in the heart of a man, ''but the counsel of the Lord stands''. He is still optimistic that ACN will win the governorship election in spite of the ''antics'' of the state government.

ENDS

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