All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has frowned at a sensational report circulating in the social media about a purported raid by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) of a business premises supposedly owned by him over alleged diversion of generators and hospital equipment. “The report is totally unfounded as Senator Senator Akpabio does not own any business premises,” Akpabio’s media aide Anietie Ekong said Wednesday evening in a statement.

“The facts of the matter,” he said in the statement e-mailed to News Express, “is that some operatives of the ICPC led by one Mr Tiku and the Border Community Development Agency led by Engr. Susan have been in communication with the contractor handling the contract for the supply of hospital equipment to Cottage Hospital, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area, a project initiated by Senator Godswill Akpabio.

“On July 9, 2019 the said officials of the ICPC and Border Community Development Agency informed an aide of Senator Akpabio that they were tracking constituency projects and would be glad to be shown to projects which Senator Akpabio has executed, a request that was received with great enthusiasm by the aide of Senator Akpabio.

“Among the projects visited by the team included a fully built and completed Skills Acquisition Centre in Ikot Ekpene and the Recreation Centre at the Federal Polytechnic, Ukana. They were also shown the medical equipment and generators which were kept in a warehouse which shares the same fence with the hospital.

“The officials were very impressed with the execution of the projects and praised Senator Akpabio for the faithful execution of the projects even when the full contract sums were yet to be paid. They promised to make recommendations to appropriate agency for the payment of the outstanding contract sums.

“The said ICPC and Border Community Development Agency officials also visited the Cottage Hospital, Ukana where the Medical Superintendent, Dr Mary Paulinus Udoh, acknowledged receipt of the medical equipment. The Medical Superintendent before the officials praised Senator Akpabio for his interventions in the hospital including the donation of a dialysis machine and all the parties agreed that the generators should be formally handed over to the hospital on July 10, 2019 by 10 am.

“Senator Godswill Akpabio can hardly be faulted in the execution of constituency projects. He has initiated and completed 88 constituency projects cutting across Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District and even extending the projects to the other two Senatorial Districts in Akwa Ibom State with projects in Udung Uko and Ibiono in Eket and Uyo Senatorial Districts respectively. This is unprecedented. Even though most of the projects have not been fully paid for, most of them have been completed and put to use by benefiting communities.”

Continuing, Mr. Ekong said: “The officials of the Border Community Development Agency created the impression that after the verification and tracking of the projects, they would make recommendations to appropriate agencies for the payment of outstanding balance of the contract sums to the contractors.

“It therefore smacks of mischief taken too far that while the contractor as agreed by the Hospital Management was making arrangements for forklift to carry the heavy duty generators and formally hand them over to the Hospital Management, some political jobbers went to town about a purported raid and diversion of the same equipment duly acknowledged by the Management of the hospital.

“We therefore urge the general public to discountenance this malicious report as fictitious, baseless and unfounded. Senator Godswill Akpabio remains committed to the welfare of the good people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District whom he had given effective representation as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

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