Former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio has endorsed the candidacy of the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsima Ekere, for the 2019 Akwa Ibom State governorship election.
Akpabio, who made the declaration, through a statement, said Ekere was the right person to fly the All Progressives Congress’ flag in the coming election for his experience and commitment to the party.
The former Minority Leader, who recently left the Peoples Democratic Party for the APC, begged the people of the state to forgive him for supporting Udom Emmanuel in the 2015 election to be governor, adding God has opened his eyes and given him a second chance to make amendment, hence his support for Ekere.
According to him, he made “a mistake for not allowing Ekere to be Governor in 2015. I plead for forgiveness, it is only God who cannot make mistake”.
Ekere, a former Deputy Governor in the state was the leader of the G22, a group of 22 PDP governorship aspirants for the 2015 governorship election but due to internal party decisions and elections, Emmanuel emerged as the governorship flagbearer of the PDP.
Ekere had resigned his membership of the PDP and joined hands with Umana Okon Umana in the APC in their quest to win the 2015 governorship election in the state.
He once chaired the Akwa Ibom State Emergency Management Agency and simultaneously with that of Ibom Power Company, the independent power generating company owned by Akwa Ibom State.
His appointment to the current position as MD of NDDC by President Muhammadu Bihari in 2016 was celebrated by the APC in the state.
Reacting to the appointment, the Akwa Ibom State Working Committee of the APC in a statement jointly signed by the then leader of the party, Obong Umana Umana and the state Chairman of the party, Dr. Amadu Attai, commended the President for the reconstitution of the board of the NDDC.
“On behalf of the State Working Committee and the entire membership of the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), we want to commend President Muhammadu Buhari on the reconstitution of the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The party described the former Deputy Governor as the right pick for the top job at the Commission in terms of his track record, exposure and other indicators of leadership and expressed confidence in his ability to discharge the office of Managing Director of the Commission with utmost prudence, dedication and exemplary sense of duty.
