Joe Effiong, Uyo
Akwa Ibom State deputy governor, Mr. Moses Ekpo, has vehemently refuted the rumours that he has resigned or been sacked from the Udom Emmanuel administration following the rumoured planned defection of Sen. Godswill Akpabio to All Progressives Congress (APC).
Media reports, especially, those from online platforms, have come out with forceful allusions to the effect that Ekpo has not only resigned but has also dumped Udom by defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.
But speaking through a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ekikere Umoh, the deputy governor renounced the reports saying there was no iota of truth in it.
The statement said his office was constrained to categorically deny the report given the temperament of the times and the implications of such innuendos.
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“The purported report is therefore nothing but a poorly concocted piece of a malicious hatchet job and a pack of lies, and should be appropriately ignored.
“It is instructive to note that currently, His Excellency, the Deputy Governor is representing the State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, as Special Guest of Honour at the 2018 International Convention of Ati Annang holding in New York, United States of America, and is yet to return to the state,” the state said.
The deputy governor is said to have reacted to his resignation rumour on phone from New York, on Monday, thus;
“I have not resigned. I have no reason whatsoever to resign or jump ship from a government that is both responsive and performing optimally, while giving practical meaning to democratic dividends for the people of Akwa Ibom. I cannot, and will not jump ship.”
Ekpo is said to have called on Akwa Ibom people, both at home and in the Diaspora, as well as the PDP family in the state to remain resolute and committed to support the Governor Emmanuel, to take Akwa Ibom to the next level.