Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State on Thursday said those who protested against him at the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday were not from the states but “miscreants” hired in Abuja.
He told State House correspondents after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan that it was funny that some elders of the state hired a few people and accused him of imposition.
Some members of the PDP from the state led by a former Governor, Obong Victor Attah, had accused Akpabio of hoarding the party’s register in his office.
They said the governor was doing this in order to doctor it in favour of his candidate for the office of the governor during the party’s forthcoming primaries.
The aggrieved members of the party were at the meeting of the National Integration Committee of the party, which met at Legacy Building, Abuja, on Wednesday.
But the governor said the protesting elders belonged to a minute segment of the state’s population.
He said the hall in which the protesters were received could not even contain 50 people.
He said, “This is a very minute segment of the Akwa Ibom population, very few that you can count on your finger tips. Some elders who were able to hire some miscreants in Abuja to carry placards at Legacy House.
“And those people who carried the placards are not from Akwa Ibom. My people had the opportunity to interview some of them. The meeting that was held with elders was not an open meeting.
“Even the hall the meeting was held could not take up to 50 people. So you can imagine somebody going to hire a few miscreants and stand outside and talk about imposition, that was funny.
“As the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, the PDP in my state is intact. Not just because of my performance as the governor of the state, also because of the fact that we had a properly elected executive through congress that was confirmed by the National Convention. And that has never been an issue.”
Akpabio said those who sponsored the hired crowed also recognised the party leadership and had a few days earlier gone with their candidates to consult the party leadership at the state level.
He also said the statutes of the elders must be questioned.
