Akpabio Cries Out, “I’m Not Nursing Any Presidential, VP Ambition”

Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio has denied rumors making the rounds that he is nursing an ambition to become president or vice-president of the country in 2015, saying there is no iota of truth in the allegations and described them as an “invidious campaign of calumny and blackmail”.

Following reports in a section of the media that he was spearheading the campaign to remove Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Akpabio was said to have toed this political path as part of his plot to pull the rug from under President Goodluck Jonathan’s feet ahead of next year’s general elections.
But in a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, the state government said the smear campaign, which had been on in the print, electronic and social media as well as internet and bulk SMS, was part of a grand conspiracy to misrepresent Akpabio with the intention of causing tension in the polity.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state in clear and unambiguous terms that Governor Godswill Akpabio is not interested in, and is not nursing any presidential or vice-presidential ambition,” the statement said, adding that Akpabio had been known as “The Promise Keeper” because he was known to always keep his words and he had expressed it several times that he had no presidential or vice-presidential ambition.
The statement, therefore, urged the president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan; his wife, Patience; the Governors’ Forum; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Nigerians to “discountenance the evil conspiracy and campaign of lies and falsehood”.