Nothing will ever divide us – Akpabio, Udom

Senate Minority Leader and immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio and his successor, Governor Udom Emmanuel, have vowed that nothing will ever come between them as being witnessed in many states.

According to them, they will never step on the "banana peel" of disagreement between former governors and their successors they helped to ascend to power.

They spoke yesterday at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly at Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State Capital.

They spoke as the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Rt Honourable Onofiok Luke, said the House is working hard to ensure harmonious relations among former and serving leaders of the state to ensure peace, stability, continued growth and development of Akwa Ibom.

Akpabio, who chaired the event and endorsed Udom for second term, said: "What happen in Abuja that make people to fight people in their states will not happen between Udom and I. We will remain together and united… In 2015, they said Udom right. Udom is right for 2019."

Akpabio also urged the sustenance of cordial relations between the executive and legislative arms of government in the state. He said the Senate will revisit the issue of devolution of powers to the federating units to boost development in the states and grassroots.

In like manner, Governor Udom Emmanuel said nothing will separate him from the love of his leader (Akpabio), adding, "the banana peel in Nigeria that make governors and their leaders fight, Akpabio and I will not match it. We have where we are going in Akwa Ibom and we will go together. That is why anything you write about us in the papers that will divide us we have ignored."

Noting that the executive enjoys harmonious relations with the legislature in the state, he urged the lawmakers to continue on their path of legislative excellence.

Stressing the need for leaders of the state to be united, Speaker Luke said: "In the House, we told ourselves that we must ensure there is bond between Senator Akpabio and Governor Udom Emmanuel, including Obong Victor Attah."

Saluting the governor for not interfering or influencing the decisions of the House, he said the House is not a rubber stamp legislature but "iron seal legislature that iron seals development and infrastructural Renaissance."

Major highlights of the event included a lecture by Senator Effiong Bob on "The role of the Legislature in the Development of Akwa Ibom State in the past 25 years" and the inauguration of the Akwa Ibom Legislative Internship Programme, AKILIP, which Akpabio described as the first of its kind in Africa.

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