Otobong Sampson in UYO.
Like King David as recorded in the Book of 2nd Samuel, Chapter 6 verse 14 and 15, he danced before the Lord with all his might in his local church — the United Evangelical Church, Ikot Oku Usung, Ukanafun; first in thanks to God and then in appreciation to the people of Akwa Ibom State for keeping faith with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) again.
God enthrones leadership through the people. This has always formed the core of Elder Aniekan Akpan’s power philosophy.
It’s been seven consecutive governorship mandates for the party and twenty four unbroken years in all.
Another four set to begin with Pastor Umo Eno on May 29, 2023. And so, Akpan went praising the Lord, giving thanks with his whole heart in the company of the upright, in the congregation (Psalm 111:1).
Intermittently capering in the company of his wife, associates, political proteges and supporters, the glaringly overjoyed chairman was a delight to watch.
His echoes of victory being understandable. He was few months in office when he became faced with the challenge of steering and steadying the party’s turbulent election ship. A hurdle he has led the party to scale admirably.
Under his leadership, Akwa Ibom PDP has begun a self-strengthening Movement.
It is by embracing the mistakes of its past that the party can feel safe enough that the people will continue to champion the ruins of opposition and not shock it out of its persisted slumber. As he rightly noted at the church service, ‘the party’s victory is a wake-up call…’
Like the Governor-elect, Pastor Eno, Akpan is preaching magnanimity and inclusion in victory.
Not aspersions on non-winners, not their segregation from future political processes, or exclusion from leadership and state-building. He is promoting and driving a new party-politics perspective.
Welding the disparate opposition elements into a congruent whole by forging new loyalties and creating a new PDP identity of them is a key item on his list.
