- N/Delta People Applaud Malami, Accuse Saboteurs of Plotting to Instigate wedge between Malami and Odubu-led Board
By John Oghojafor( South South Bureau Chief of The New Diplomat)
Eminent citizens of the Niger Delta Region have expressed uttermost anger with fifth columnists, political saboteurs and opposition collaborators linked to quarrelsome political groupings in Akwa Ibom State, who were previously fingered in a sinister media blitz to oxidize the “uprightness, integrity and high professional standing of Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, with the aim of precipitating a wedge between the erudite Attorney General and the newly confirmed Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) led by Dr Pius Odubu”.
The notable Niger Delta stakeholders accused political fifth columnist groups in Akwa Ibom State of allegedly intensifying their evil machinations by churning out concocted and fabricated tales against the “ Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Malami, a most honest and reputable Lawyer who professionally rose to the pinnacle of his esteemed career as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) that he allegedly received bribe from Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godswill Akpabio.”
The eminent Niger Delta stakeholders under the auspices of the Niger Delta Peoples Consultative Forum(NDPCF), Akwa Ibom State Chapter who fingered some prominent political actors in Akwa Ibom State of spawning the fabricated narratives through digital media to trigger a dissonance between the Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General, Mr Malami and the Dr Odubu-led NDDC Board, accused Akwa-Ibom dissenting political groups opposed to Chief Akpabio’s bid of returning to the Senate in an upcoming Senatorial re-run with Senator Chris Ekpenyong of instigating false publications via digital media “in a desperate and malicious attempt to cause confusion because that is where and what they profit from in Akwa Ibom State.”
The NDPCF in a statement signed by the troika of Dr Chris Essien, Chief Ekerete Afangide and Mr Godwin Umoren said it stands tall, resolute in applauding Minister Malami for standing on the side of the Law which states that the “ Dr Odubu-led NDDC Board is legally, properly and procedurally well constituted and that having given his legal opinion on the matter as the nation’s Chief Law Officer, it is therefore inconceivable and false that the same Mr Malami would turn back and side an illegal interim contraption called Interim Management Committee.”
The NDPCF which came hard on the feuding, splinter political groups in Akwa Ibom over Senator Akpabio’s upcoming Senatorial re-run with Senator Chris Ekpenyong lambasted Akwa Ibom State politicians, warning them to refrain from dragging Mr Malami into domestic political differences in Akwa Ibom State. They said: “ It has come to our attention as the state chapter of the Niger Delta Peoples Consultative Forum(NDPCF) that some prominent politicians from our State hiding under the cloak of Akwa Ibom State Stakeholders Forum have been churning out falsehood in the media just to cause disaffection between the Dr Odubu-led NDDC Board and the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami who has done an excellent job in upholding the position of the Law on this subject matter. Mr Malami and other high-ranking officials in the Presidency have maintained that they stand by the Law that the Odubu-Led Board is legally, procedurally and properly constituted. So we applaud him and others highly, vigorously, and we maintain that he is a thorough breed professional with the highest sense of commitment to the Rule of Law. He couldn’t have being involved with Senator Akpabio in any money deals to undermine the position of the Law. We want to enjoin these politicians from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial Zone, whom we have since identified as sponsors of this hatchet job to retrace their political steps. We cautioned them not to drag Mr Malami into their local , domestic political dispute with Akpabio and cause disharmony between the hard-working Justice Minister and the Dr Odubu-led Board.”
A digital news medium, Pointblank had alleged that Chief Akpabio allegedly paid $2million dollars to the Justice Minister purportedly to raise a memo to advise President Buhari against inaugurating the newly confirmed NDDC board led by Odubu. The online news medium had further stated that the fictitious funds were meant to facilitate the reported deal.
Investigations reveal that the false narrative is part of a media onslaught by some actors linked to the political divide between Senator Akpabio and Senator Ekpenyong in the upcoming Senatorial re-run in Akwa Ibom State ordered by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC). Top level sources in Akwa Ibom hinted that the fabricated bribe narrative is not only to slight Mr Malami but aimed at triggering a disharmony between the Board and Malami on the one hand as well as aimed at launching a barrage of media war to stop Akpabio, who is very certain of contesting the Senatorial re-run in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial zone, from having the political war-chest to contest against Ekenyong.
Sources reveal that the political tension in Akwa Ibom State since a re-run was ordered by the Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar, which nullified the election results in Essien Udim Local government area of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial zone has been quite high and aggravated, with various factional and fractured political groupings openly trading tackles, opprobrium and contentious narratives.
