By Correspondent, Uyo
A former State Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State, has launched a scathing attack on the emerging political order in the party in the state.
Barrister Otoabasi Edet Udo, alleged that original members who built the APC when it was in opposition have been systematically sidelined following the defection of Governor Umo Eno and his political associates from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Udo, who served as APC State Publicity Secretary from 2021 to March 2026, alleged that key party structures, government appointments and strategic political positions across the wards, local government areas and state have increasingly been occupied by former PDP members who defected with Governor Eno, leaving the party’s “aboriginal” members marginalised.
He made the allegations in an open letter to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, titled “Why Am I Forgotten and Forsaken? An Appeal for Reward and Recognition.”
The former party spokesman said the development had created what he described as a disturbing imbalance in the distribution of political opportunities, particularly for those who endured the difficult years when the APC was an opposition party in Akwa Ibom.
Udo recalled that he joined Akpabio in moving from the PDP to the APC in 2015, when only a relatively small number of people followed the former governor into the opposition party.
According to him, he subsequently became the Abak Chapter Coordinator of the Akwa Ibom Democratic Forum (ADF), an organisation he said, later played a role in the emergence of the APC structure in the state.
He eventually became the pioneer State Publicity Secretary of the APC in Akwa Ibom, a position he said ,exposed him to political attacks, personal sacrifices and substantial financial commitments in defending Akpabio and promoting the party.
Udo claimed that he wrote more than 100 articles in defence and promotion of Akpabio, issued over 150 press releases for the APC and participated in more than 30 radio and television programmes to advance the party’s interests.
He further alleged that his political activities at some point created security concerns for him and his family, forcing them to relocate from their home to safer locations.
The former spokesman also claimed that he personally funded the operations of the ADF chapter and the office of the APC State Publicity Secretary for years, despite repeated appeals and proposals for financial assistance to party stakeholders.
He said his political commitment continued during Akpabio’s 2023 senatorial campaign, where he served on the Central Working Committee and participated in the campaign that secured victory for the former governor and the APC.
Udo, particularly cited the performance of Abak Local Government Area, which he said delivered 19,627 votes to Akpabio during the election, describing it as the highest result in the senatorial district after Essien Udim.
Despite these contributions, however, he expressed frustration that he had allegedly received neither appointment nor meaningful empowerment.
Udo claimed that more than 700 appointments had emanated from Akpabio’s office, but that he had not benefited from any of them.
He also took particular exception to what he described as the treatment meted out to the original APC state executive members following Governor Eno’s defection.
“Before I, and 30 others out of 37 State Exco members could say hallelujah, glory be to God, we are now the ruling party in the state, we were wiped out of the State EXCO without any reward or appreciation,” he alleged.
Udo argued that the arrival of new members should not translate into the political displacement of those who built the APC from its formative years.
He further alleged that he was recently excluded from a critical stakeholders’ meeting in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, despite a requirement that each local government nominate 20 stakeholders.
According to him, his name was omitted from the list of stakeholders submitted from Abak Local Government Area.
He described the exclusion as particularly painful, alleging that some of those now recognised as critical stakeholders were individuals he had previously confronted politically while defending Akpabio and the APC during its years in opposition.
Udo appealed to Akpabio to urgently review the party’s system of reward, recognition and political inclusion, insisting that those who made sacrifices when the APC had little political influence should not be forgotten now that the party controls the state.
“There is nothing wrong if they are now your true friends, not fair-weather, but they should and must not displace me and other true friends of yours who were there for you and the party when the going was tough,” he stated.
The former publicity secretary stressed that his objection was not to the admission of Governor Eno and other defectors into the APC, but to what he described as the displacement of loyal members who built and sustained the party before its emergence as the ruling party in Akwa Ibom.
He said he resorted to the open letter after repeated efforts to reach Akpabio through his aides failed.
Udo also disclosed that the letter represented only the first part of his account of his contributions to the APC and Akpabio’s political journey, indicating that further details could be made public.
He expressed hope that the Senate President would intervene to address what he described as the injustice being suffered by him and other early APC loyalists across the state, warning that continued neglect could deepen resentment among members who sacrificed for the party during its difficult years.