By Vivian Onyebukwa
Some concerned members of Akwa Ibom State Community in Lagos (AKISCOM), has appealed to the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Umoh Eno to intervene in the issues arising from the organisation’s upcoming general election come Saturday 18th 2023.
The members include Cornell Udofia, former Public Relations Officer, AKISCOM , and President CMC Gladiators, Dr Godwin Akpan, Vice President 1, Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, Akan-Aden Don Nyong, General Secretary, Uruan Local Government Area, AKISCOM, and Pastor Gabriel Bassey, Vice President Uyo Senatorial District Chairman, and Investment Committee Chairman Ibesikpo Asutan.
AKISCOM is a socio-political organisation in Lagos made up of 31 Local Government Areas in Akwa Ibom.
In a press conference to address the issue, the group alleged that six Local Government Areas have been disfranchised for various reasons including the issue of finance even after paying the necessary fees in order to vote and be voted for, while some of the few local government areas were not able to meet up with their payments.
The affected LGA’s include Ibesikpo/Asutan, Nsit Ubium, Nsit Atai, Uruan, Ika, and Oruk Anam.
One of the members of the group, Cornell Udofia described the matter concerning Uruan LGA as very peculiar. “Uruan cleared their dues without owing, yet they are not allowed to vote in the forthcoming Saturday’s election”.
Udiofia expressed dismay that even the President of AKISCOM who promised to ensure that Uruan votes, could not handle the issue. “We are not happy. The government of Akwa Ibom led by Pastor Umoh Eno should be aware that we are not happy with what is going on. Even the intervention of the Lagos Liaison Officer, Samuel Asuquo, who visited and advised we should put all kind of problems behind so that everybody would contest, was not complied with. He made the appeal in good faith to tell us to allow peace to reign for the sake of unity, peace, and prosperity, yet they defied it”.
Another member of the group, Akaan-Aden Don Nyong decried the neglect of the organisation’s and denied some members of their right to vote or be voted for. “They announced that all Lagos members should pay their dues, and they gave time, and they managed to pay. In our case, Uruan has paid before time in May. The constitution never stipulated that you clear your dues for 3 years, it is not in the electoral commission guidelines. With the death of our President, we didn’t know how far we paid, but we paid for a year and six months. The President promised that he would ensure that ours is cleared, because ours is not a case of insubordination, but he could not meet up. Now the Local Government can not vote. We are not calling for the cancellation, all we want is that the world would hear. You must be a member for 3 years, paid your dues, and LGAs pay dues too. They are penalised because they paid late. So why did you collect the money when you know that you won’t allow them to pay?, Nyong questioned.
Pastor Gabriel Bassey, also a member of the group appealed for peace. “ We want justice. Without the 6 Local Governments, Akwa Ibom can not be complete. We want the State government of Akwa Ibom to look into it so that we will have a successful election. Whoever that emerges successful will be accepted and we walk along with them”.
Expressing his own view, Dr Godwin Akpan stated, “I see favouritism, sentimentalism into the AKISCOM platform. AKISCOM is a body that controls all the LGAs of Akwa Ibom State in Lagos. We have three Senatorial Districts which are Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, and Eket Senatorial. All are subjects to AKISCOM. I want the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umoh Eno to know that we have been disenfranchised, sidelined from the upcoming election conducted by the AKISCOM 2023. The Financial department of the AKISCOM failed to tell us, Ibesikpo LGA how much we owe. We made efforts to pay, yet we are not allowed to participate in the election. Despite all the meetings to make peace, it ended in shamble. I am not happy that my LG is disfranchised. We should bring back peace so that we remain in safety”.
The concerned members came to the conclusion that they want peace to reign, and encouraged all the voters to go out and casts their votes for their conscience, capacity, track record. They urged the electoral committee to allow all the election candidates and their voters to participate in the election.