The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has come out in strong defence of one its governor’s, Godswill Akpabio, who confessed to rigging the party’s primary election in the northwestern senatorial district of the state in 2007.However, opposition parties and civil society organizations expressed outrage over the governor’s action and confession, saying in sane societies and democracies, Mr. Akpabio should have been kicked out of office.Mr. Akpabio had confessed that he manipulated PDP primary election in the district in favour of Aloysius Etuk in 2007.The governor, who made the open confession during the “Good Governance Tour” led by the Information Minister, Labaran Maku, to the state, said, “The people of Ikono and Ini (LGA) from 1960 have never produced a senator. I used my own hand to strike out the name of the person who has won before, and I said it is important for me to give that region a senator in 2007, and I produced Senator Aloysius Etok for you; that is where he comes from.”Mr. Etuk, who subsequently won the main election that year, is currently in his second term in the Senate. During his first term, the senator served as the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriation of the upper legislative chamber.PDP defends its ownThe PDP spokesman, Olisa Metuh, told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview that the video clip in which the governor said he manipulated the primary election was doctored; adding that it was an attempt to ridicule the governor who he said is a great and loyal member of the party.“We have already raised the alarm that some people are targeting Gov Akpabio and put him to public ridicule. This video, which from all intent and purpose is doctored evidence, is proof of what we have said before,” Mr. Metuh said.” The video, I must say, however, is a poor attempt at ridiculing one of the giants of the party. We are happy with his performance in Akwa Ibom State and he is a great and loyal member of the PDP.”Opposition parties condemnIn its reaction, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, said it was not surprised by Mr. Akpabio’s confession of manipulating the electoral process, which it described as “the order of the day” in the governor’s party, PDP.“That is the characteristic of PDP. It is the order of the day in the party. The governor made that confession because he doesn’t feel he has done anything wrong. PDP thrives on imposition; it is not practicing democracy; there is no internal democracy in PDP,” spokesman for the party, Emma Eneukwu, told PREMIUM TIMES.Mr. Eneukwu urged the PDP leadership to allow internal democracy prevail in the party, warning that its undemocratic posture could derail the country’s democracy.Rotimi Fashakin, who speaks for the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, observed that the Akwa Ibom governor merely lived up to the expectation of the ruling PDP whose members cannot come to power except by rigging.“If PDP chieftains don’t do that, how will they come to office?” Mr. Fashakin asked. “They only come to office by rigging. PDP has a rigging culture. And that is what they are trying to do with APC. They see it as a conglomerate of parties that will give them a run for their money.”On what should be done to check rigging of elections by party leaders, the CPC spokesman said, “The only way we can curb this is that everybody within the polity should be serious. This is about our nation; it affects the fundamentals of our land. It is the plank on which democracy rest. We must ensure that the sanctity of our electoral process so that we have a better lease of life. There should be one man one vote; there should be transparency in the electoral process because that is where the future of our nation lies.”Mr. Fashakin’s equal in the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Lai Mohammed, said anyone who is familiar with the ruling party would not be surprised by what the Akwa Ibom Governor confessed he did.“I’m not surprised. I don’t know why people are surprised. Anyone who is familiar with the PDP should not be surprised,” the ACN spokesman stated. “Was it not the same PDP in the case of Amaechi that he had to go to Supreme Court to be declared governor?
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