The Akwa Ibom State lawmaker representing Etinan Federal Constituency under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives, Mr. Sam Ikon, has said Governor Udom Emmanuel forced him to give up his second term aspiration in the National Assembly.
Speaking in Uyo on why he will not be contesting in the 2019 general elections, Ikon said he was approached by the leader of the party in the state, Governor Udom Emmanuel, to drop his ambition for the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr. Onfiok Luke, from Nsit Ubium State Constituency.
Ikon, a former Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly said the governor by his action has shown his preferred candidate in the election, stating, “as a leader you must respect his decision.”
“One must be able to make the necessary sacrifice to ensure your loyalty and commitment goes beyond self. That is why when the Leader shows preference, I have to respect the opinion of my leader.
“It is a difficult pill to swallow. You may not be happy about it. I am not saying that I am very happy about what I am doing but we need to make necessary sacrifices to make sure our party and constituency remains strong.
“I also call on others who have similar situation especially the Senator representing Uyo Senatorial District, Senator Bassey Albert to toe my line to eliminate heat in the system,” he said.
Noting that politicians who leave for another political party should not be blamed because they could be under pressure from followers, Ikon dismissed insinuations that the chances of PDP and APC wining the elections was fifty-fifty.
“I will not buy the saying that it is fifty-fifty. What I will say is that we have situations that had never been there before and that is the fact that we have another party at the centre and another party in the state.
“You must be conscious of the fact that it confers certain advantages to both sides. You will realise that in the other party, at the centre there is control because they are in government.
“The party in the state is in control because we are in government here; so the issue of fifty-fifty chances does not arise; for me what arises is how each side manages their issue to their advantage to outwit or defeat the other.
“If you don’t manage your issue well especially when there is crisis around, the other party can penetrate you to woo your members.” Ikon stated.
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