Clerics calling me ‘killer herdsman’ since I defected to APC – Akpabio

Uche EmmanuelMarch 29, 2019

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Senator Godswill Akpabio says ever since his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), some clergymen in Akwa Ibom state have been casting aspersions on him.

In an article, the former Akwa Ibom governor said his defection had cast a spell of fear over the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which had resorted to paying clergymen to tell lies against him.

Newsflash247 gathers that the lawmaker said his move to the ruling party had overshadowed every discussion in Akwa Ibom state.

He said: “I am happy that God is not like some of His priests. Ever since I decamped to APC, they have been praying against me and they have joined in peddling the lies about me.

“Very well known church prelates and bishops that dined with me for eight years while I was governor, despite my benevolence to them and their families joined the fray calling me killer herdsman for joining APC.

“But some of these men of God were in this same country in 2012 when the farmers/herdsmen clashes claimed the lives of over 1000 people in the Benue/Plateau/Mambilla axis.

“At that time, a Christian was the president but was not accused of being a killer of Christians. The farmers/herdsmen clashes predate Nigeria’s independence.

“The clashes have occurred under various leadership. Yet the “men of God” have been unconscionable in accusing the current president of masterminding genocide against Christians because he is a Muslim.

“I am happy that God does not condemn a man based on one man’s testimony, but He sees the heart and judges our motives and intentions.

Whether one is a Christian or Muslim, we all worship the same God who will at the appointed time, judge us from our deeds in words and actions.”

Akpabio claimed he had been photo-shopped by propaganda merchants who told lies about him, in the course of the 2019 election.

He alleged that the same individuals had forged his letterhead and signature to write falsehood as if he wrote them.

The lawmaker said the current governor of the state, Udom Emmanuel, had been performing the duties of a deacon in Qua Iboe Church, Surulere , Lagos, when he met him.

He said upon meeting Udom, he adjudged that the latter would preside over the state’s affairs with the fear of God and that history would judge if he was right or wrong.

He said: “Whether I was right or wrong is for history to judge. Nevertheless I picked him to succeed me and by the grace of God and the votes of Akwa Ibom electorates, he won the election. So God made him governor.”

Meanwhile, Newsflash247 previously reported that Etekamba Umoren, a former secretary to the Akwa Ibom state government, expressed confidence that Senator Godswill Akpabio will reclaim his mandate at the election tribunal.

Umoren, who was SSG during the governorship tenure of Akpabio, said that evidence abounds to prove that Akpabio won the senatorial seat for Akwa Ibom north-west senatorial district in the National Assembly elections.