He said that the reason he moved to APC was that the Peoples Democratic Party can no longer protect members under its umbrella.
The former minority leader assured the people of the local government of his determination to deliver on his campaign promises if elected during next month’s general elections.
“Next month’s election is a national one. We must use our votes to return Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu as our president, me as your Senator, and other national assembly candidates on the 25th of February. The logo of our party is the broom. I am now in the broom party because the umbrella had long been torn into shreds.”
Akpabio, who is the National Vice Chairman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, said that he decided to kick off his ward tour after his Supreme Court victory in Oruk Anam because of his love for the people of the area and to show his appreciation for their support for him since 2006.
“The people of Oruk Anam are my political backbone and this dates back to 2006 when I was aspiring for the governorship of our dear state. You people supported me to defeat over 56 other aspirants at the primaries. You also stood by me to win the governorship election in 2006 and re-elected me in 2011.
“As governor, I laid a solid foundation for the future development of our senatorial district and the state in general. My uncommon performance in office as your governor was to lay the foundation for the emergence of another governor within us in the future because as they say, one good turn deserves another.
“Before I left office in 2015, I was able to link Abak, Etim Ekpo and Ika local government areas to other parts of the state through a good road network,” he declared.
“It was also through your support that I was elected into the National Assembly. It is in appreciation of that support that I decided to flag off my ward tour in Oruk Anam in order to personally say thank you to all of you for all the support,” he said.
“You people voted overwhelmingly for me, but some people colluded to rob me of my victory. The Professor who was used to rob me of that victory in 2019 is now in jail”.
In his speech at the rally, the House of Assembly candidate for Oruk Anam State constituency, Aniekan Abraham, promised to deliver the local government to the party.
“We appreciate you and your campaign team for making Oruk Anam your kick-off point for the senatorial campaign, it shows how important we are to you over the years. You and our presidential candidate are our projects in this local government.
“Your ambition cuts across party lines. We need a voice at the national level and we have collectively agreed that we will deliver Asiwaju Tinubu, Senator Akpabio and other candidates at all levels. The results at the end of the polls will speak for themselves,” he declared.
