Stakeholders under the aegis of Akwa Ibom State Professionals have taken issue with the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, over what they described as derogatory comments targeted against former Governor of the state, Obong Victor Attah.

The group queried what they termed a “verbal attack” which they claim is part of a desperate plot to forcefully take over Akwa Ibom State come 2027.

Akpabio reportedly told All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders in a meeting that before he assumed office as Governor in 2007, no meaningful progress or development had been experienced in any part of the State and that he introduced dual carriage roads and other infrastructure to the State for the first time.

In response, National Coordinator of the Akwa Ibom Professionals, Engr. Ufot Akan Umoren, in a statement in Abuja, yesterday, took issue with Akpabio’s claims which he said was aimed at denigrating past leaders especially Obong Attah who laid the foundation upon which successive administrations built upon.

He described the Senate President’s attempt to cast aspersions on former Governor Victor Attah, as an “unpardonable assault on the sensibility of the generality of the people of Akwa Ibom State.”

Umoren also described Akpabio’s boast that he will take over Akwa Ibom State in 2027 as a usual empty boast reminding him that his similar threats in 2019 came to naught.

The group accused Senator Akpabio of “deploying hate speech, false claims in planting seeds of discord among communities, traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth groups in a bid to overheat the polity and derail the current administration in the State for his anti-people selfish agenda” assuring, however, that “he is out for a failed venture”

The Statement reads in part, “Senator Akpabio actions and utterances give him away as a wholesomely self-conceited human being. He has crossed the lines by disparaging the personality and performance in office of the architect of the modern Akwa Ibom State, His Excellency Obong Victor Attah, and even the pioneer indigenous governor of the State, Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga.

“His unfounded claim that Akwa Ibom State never experienced real development until when he (Akpabio) became the governor in 2007 is absurd and an unacceptable spurning of the legacy and ground breaking achievements of Obong Victor Attah and other leaders which the state continues to enjoy even for generations to come.

“It is on record that the foundation and master plan for the development of Akwa Ibom State originated from Obong Victor Attah’s administration. All projects Senator Akpabio can boast of as governor of Akwa Ibom are all rooted in the Attah administration.

“Governor Attah initiated, conceptualized and commenced execution of major landmark projects including the Ibom Airport, major highways, dualization projects, gas processing projects, the Ibom Icon and Golf Course and array of legacy projects which continues to serve the people of Akwa Ibom State for generations to come.

“Above all, the fight for the derivative funding, which the State is enjoying today, was spearheaded by Obong Victor Attah.

“Senator Akpabio served under Governor Attah’s government as a commissioner for six years. Who was he before Governor Attah picked him and allowed him the opportunities he leveraged on to become a governor? Akpabio is a wholesome example of the proverbial destitute child that bites the fingers that fed him.

“It is appalling that after benefitting from Akwa Ibom State, instead of joining hands with other leaders to move the State to the next level under the current administration of Governor Umo Eno, Akpabio is rather going about and making unguarded, inciting and divisive political statements that have the capacity to cause crisis and destabilize the State.

“We challenge Senator Akpabio to point to any achievement he made as Senate Minority Leader for four years; as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs for four years and now Senate President. He should mention one idea he had ever contributed to help the Economy of our nation, Nigeria. Of course, he has nothing to point to.

“We counsel Senator Akpabio to retrace his steps by tendering an unreserved apology to Obong Victor Attah, other leaders, the government and people of Akwa Ibom State as we will not hesitate to resist further attempts to divide the state with ethnic seeds of discord.

“Akpabio should also respect the Will of the people as symbolized in the election of Governor Eno, concentrate on his duties in Abuja as Senate President, and stop huffing around Akwa Ibom State,” the group stated.

The stakeholders, under the aegis of Akwa Ibom Professionals, counseled Akpabio to know that the people of Akwa Ibom State have already move on the path of unity, progress and development under the leadership of Governor Umo Eno and cannot be swayed by his (Akpabio’s) “self-aggrandizing and divisive antics” (Vanguard)