Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State is threatening to resign as the chairman of Atiku Abubakar’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) if campaign funds are not released, Daily Sun has reported.
Udom was said to have confided in some of his inner circle that he was frustrated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate’s inability to release funds for campaigning in the state.
According to the source, despite the fact that the PDP is the state’s ruling party, the presidential candidate is not popular among residents, necessitating the need for his campaign to begin in earnest.
Speaking with Daily Sun, a source said, “At the moment, our governor has said he would not be spending a dime of the state’s funds on the presidential campaign because we don’t even have more than enough resources for our national and state Assemblies campaigns.
“He has even said he would rather resign than appear incompetent. He wants to campaign for Atiku but his hands are tied because of lack of funds.
“At the moment, we are waiting for the candidate to release funds so that the party can start campaigning for him here but if he doesn’t do so, then we would just focus on our National Assembly and state candidates. It is not that the governor does not support him but the fact remains that we are our governorship campaign is our priority at the moment.”
“If you go to the streets of Akwa Ibom and talk to people, you would see that Atiku is not popular among the top presidential contenders. Also, the fact that most of the billboards you see in Uyo are either for our national assembly and state candidates and the presidential candidates of other parties gives you an understanding of what is at stake.
“For instance, the supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party have sponsoring billboards and pasting posters of him all over the city but that of Atiku are few because funds haven’t been released,” another source said.
But the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ini Ememobong, said he was not aware of any such threat.
“The Governor is a gentleman and doesn’t issue threats, he discusses. He is a natural peace builder wherever he finds himself, so we know he is pursuing peace and reconciliation to help the party win,” he said.
