A former Senator from Akwa Ibom State, John Udoedehe, has revealed that the former governor of the state, Godswill Akpabio usually gave out cash gifts each time the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held its caucus meeting.
Udoedehe claims that Akpabio would refer to the money as transport fare for every politician that was present at the meeting and each person always got at least N3 million.
Senator Udoedehe, a former Minister of State for FCT, also alleged that Akpabio always gave him a ‘special’ sum, which was more than the N3 million others received.
“Godswill Akpabio used to give us at least N3million each as transport money every night we attended caucus meeting in Government House. My own was special, it was more than N3million.”
“But even with this gift, I disagreed with him (Akpabio) and left him. I left because Akwa Ibom’s interest was paramount to me than any other thing,” he reportedly said during an interview on Planet FM in Uyo.
The former lawmaker, who’s a chieftain in the All Progressive Congress (APC), said his relationship with Akpabio still went awry in spite of the monetary gifts, stressing that his loyalty could not be bought.
Furthermore, Udoedehe claimed that he was bold enough to leave the Akpabio, and the PDP at a time Akpabio was squandering state funds.
“The main reason I quarreled with Godswill Akpabio is that the government derailed initially by bringing people that were not supposed to be in government. Government is so sacred. There are people that are not supposed to be in government. If you allow them in, then that sacredness would be broken.
“Development goes beyond infrastructure. People in Uyo are now selling off their properties, including their fathers’ graves. It shows the level of poverty here.”
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