The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is panicking over imminent defeat in Akwa Ibom State.

The party stated this in a statement on Sunday by its deputy publicity secretary, Yekini Nabena, while reacting to claims by the PDP on elections in the state.

PDP on Saturday accused a former governor of the state, Godswill Akpabio, of plotting with the APC governorship candidate, Nsima Ekere, to trigger violent crisis in Akwa-Ibom as a strategy to scuttle elections in the state.

The APC, however, dismissed the claim as wild and unsubstantiated.

“In the face of imminent defeat in the forthcoming 2019 governorship and legislative election in Akwa Ibom State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has resorted to falsehood and propaganda against All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in the state in its desperation to remain in the reckoning of the Akwa Ibom electorate.

“Allegations against former governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, Atuekong Don Etiebet and the 2019 APC governorship candidate, Obong Nsima Ekere, are one of the falsehoods and propaganda by the PDP.

“The PDP has already lost the forthcoming election as a result of the pedestrian performance of the Udom Emmanuel administration. The party should face its fate rather than engage in scare mongering.”

The party described the allegation as a case of “the aggressor playing the victim to cover up his misdeeds”, saying PDP members are purveyors of violence themselves.

“Since the issue is security, we may as well expose the PDP and their leaders in Akwa Ibom State for who they are: purveyors of violence. We are aware of several petitions in the office of the Inspector-General of Police against the PDP National Legal Adviser, Emmanuel Enoidem, a former commissioner in Governor Udom Emmanuel’s administration.

“In the petitions, the PDP National Legal Adviser is alleged to have sponsored cultists and militant gangs that have gone out of control in Etim Ekpo, his home local government area and neighbouring Ukanafun.

“The activities of these cultists have resulted in several deaths in the last three years and displaced many families who now live as displaced persons in Iwukem,” the statement read.

The statement also said the Governor Emmanuel-led administration has ensured the cover up of the security crisis despite the increasing number of deaths and displacements.

The party said the tide has turned in the state, stating that “as at today, APC, a party that did not win any councillorship seat in 2015 now has members in different positions.”

It also said it is laughable that the PDP still thinks Akwa Ibom state is a “core PDP state” and by implication canvassing for the coronation of the incumbent governor.

The APC said the electorate in the state and indeed the political structure have rejected PDP and “no amount of falsehood and propaganda can reverse their lost appeal in the state.”

It therefore cautioned that any attempt by the PDP administration in state to cause crisis and disrupt the 2019 election will not be tolerated.

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