Akpabio’s longtime supporter alleges neglect, exclusion from political appointments

A former State Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State, Otoabasi Udo, has accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of neglecting longstanding supporters despite their sacrifices and contributions to his political career.

Mr Udo, a lawyer who served as the party’s state publicity secretary from 2021 until March 2026, made the allegations in an open letter addressed to Mr Akpabio on Monday.

The letter, titled “Why Am I Forgotten & Forsaken? An Appeal for Reward & Recognition,” was addressed to Mr Akpabio in his capacity as president of the Senate and chairman of the National Assembly.

Mr Udo said he resorted to the open letter because attempts to reach the Senate president through his aides had repeatedly failed.

This development comes months after PREMIUM TIMES reported that Patty Etete, a former House of Representatives member, who represented Akpabio’s federal constituency (Ikot Ekpene/ Essien Udim/ Obot Akara Federal Constituency) and a political associate of Mr Akpabio, wrote an open letter to the Senate president expressing grievances over his treatment before subsequently resigning from the APC.

Unlike Mr Etete, however, Mr Udo’s letter does not announce his resignation from the party; rather, it focuses on what he describes as years of sacrifice without corresponding recognition or reward.

Mr Udo said he joined Mr Akpabio in moving from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC when the party was still in opposition in Akwa Ibom.

He said he later became the Abak chapter coordinator of the Akwa Ibom Democratic Forum (ADF), a political platform he said played a role in building the structure that eventually became the APC in the state.

According to him, supporters of Mr Akpabio were subjected to political persecution at the time because of the senator’s opposition to the state’s dominant political structure.

Mr Udo said his involvement in defending Mr Akpabio made him a target and that some of the articles he wrote in support of the senator created security concerns for him and his family.

“Serving you and bearing the cross was selfless, borne out of love, loyalty and conviction to you and what you stand for,” he wrote.

Personal funding for political groups

Mr Udo alleged that he personally funded the ADF chapter’s activities for more than four years and later spent his own money running the APC publicity office.

He said he prepared a roadmap outlining the publicity office’s financial requirements and sent it to key party stakeholders, but received no financial support throughout his tenure.

He claimed to have written more than 100 articles in Mr Akpabio’s defence and issued over 150 press releases for the APC.

He also said he made more than 30 radio and television appearances on behalf of Mr Akpabio and the party.

Mr Udo alleged that he had to pay his own transportation and other expenses for those engagements.

He said some of his political activities became so risky that he and members of his family had to relocate temporarily for safety.

‘Excluded from stakeholders’ meeting’

Mr Udo said his concerns became more serious after he was excluded from a recent meeting of “critical stakeholders” in the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.

He said each local government area was expected to nominate 20 stakeholders, but his name was not included among those selected from Abak.

He questioned why he was excluded despite his previous position as state publicity secretary and his longstanding involvement in Mr Akpabio’s political activities.

Mr Udo also complained about the changes in the APC’s political structure in Akwa Ibom following Governor Umo Eno’s movement into the party.

He said he and about 30 other members of the former 37-member state executive were removed from the party structure after new entrants took over their positions.

According to him, those who defended the APC when it was in opposition have now been sidelined.

Concern raised over appointment, empowerment

Mr Udo alleged that more than 700 appointments had been made from Mr Akpabio’s office, but he had not benefited from any appointment or empowerment.

He said he was a member of Mr Akpabio’s 2023 senatorial campaign Central Working Committee and participated in efforts that contributed to the senator’s victory in the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.

He cited the 19,627 votes recorded for Mr Akpabio in Abak Local Government Area, which he said was second only to the result from Essien Udim Local Government Area.

Mr Udo asked why his contributions had not translated into an appointment, empowerment or meaningful recognition.

He said the situation had left him questioning the party’s reward system.

Akpabio responds

Responding to a media enquiry by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Akpabio’s Special Adviser on Media, Eseme Eyiboh, said the Senate president’s office was aware of the issues raised by Mr Udo but would not address what he described as an internal political grievance through the media.

“There are established channels through which party members may communicate concerns to the appropriate organs and leaders of the party,” Mr Eyiboh said, urging Mr Udo to follow those channels.

Mr Eyiboh said the senator had no intention of diminishing Mr Udo’s service or that of other people who had worked for the APC and supported Mr Akpabio over the years.

He, however, rejected the suggestion that political service creates an automatic entitlement to public appointment, empowerment or other personal benefits.

Mr Eyiboh said political participation should be driven principally by conviction, public service and commitment to a party’s ideals rather than expectations of personal reward.

“Politics cannot sustainably be reduced to a transactional arrangement in which every contribution generates a corresponding personal claim upon public office,” he said.

He cited the 2023 presidential election, saying millions of Nigerians contributed to President Bola Tinubu’s campaign. Still, it would not have been possible or consistent with democratic governance for every contributor to demand an appointment.

Mr Eyiboh said public appointments were limited and had to be determined by factors including competence, suitability, representation, prevailing needs and public interest.

Why was Udo excluded?

Regarding Mr Udo’s exclusion from the stakeholders’ meeting, Mr Eyiboh rejected the suggestion that Mr Akpabio personally determines who is invited to APC meetings.

He said the party had structures at the ward, local government, senatorial district, state and national levels, and meetings were organised according to their purpose by the relevant party authorities.

“The non-invitation of any particular individual to a particular meeting should not be attributed personally to Senator Akpabio or interpreted as evidence of political exclusion,” he said.

Mr Eyiboh added that holding a former party office did not necessarily confer a permanent right to attend every subsequent stakeholders’ meeting.

‘Voluntary advocacy cannot become a debt’

Mr Eyiboh said the senator’s office had noted Mr Udo’s account of the articles, press releases and broadcast appearances he undertook in support of Mr Akpabio and the APC.

He said the office had no reason to disparage legitimate efforts made in support of the party.

But he said that voluntary political advocacy could not be converted retrospectively into a debt or obligation to confer an appointment or a material reward.

According to him, this would only be different if specific activities had been expressly commissioned by Mr Akpabio, his office or the party on agreed terms.

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Questions on appointments

Mr Eyiboh also disputed the suggestion that appointments available to APC members and supporters in Akwa Ibom were made exclusively by Mr Akpabio.

He said Nigeria’s constitutional system assigns appointment powers to different authorities.

He said public appointments were not rewards to which party members acquired proprietary rights because of longevity, loyalty or campaign activities.

Mr Eyiboh said Mr Akpabio “values loyalty” and appreciates those who stood with him and the APC during difficult periods.

He added, “Disappointment is therefore understandable; entitlement is a different proposition.

“But neither he nor any other party member should be regarded as having been wronged merely because political support has not resulted in a particular appointment or benefit.

“Political participation is service, not an investment contract; public office is a trust, not the dividend payable on political loyalty.”

Mr Udo said he decided to make his grievances public after repeated efforts to reach Mr Akpabio through his aides failed.

He described the letter as a “last resort” and appealed to the Senate president to reconsider the treatment of those who supported him when he was building his political base.

He said the account of his contributions to Mr Akpabio and the APC would be published in subsequent instalments