A tragic dilemma called Udom Emmanuel

By Simon Ufot, Uyo

In the run-up to the 2015 elections, Deacon Udom Emmanuel faced widespread criticisms for offering himself as a stooge to the Akpabio family. It was then public knowledge that Godswill Akpabio and his family had not only stolen and squandered over N1 trillion, he was leaving behind huge debts and unfinished projects. Although it was also clear that Udom Emmanuel, a deacon of the Qua Iboe Church and a sleazy bank executive, had had a long-standing fiduciary relationship with Akpabio, Akwa Ibom people did not expect that an ordained deacon would swear to an oath (mbiam) to be made a governor. From day one, Udom was a tainted and discredited candidate. To burnish his façade, the campaign invented the idea that if elected governor, Udom would continue Akpabio’s drive in infrastructural growth and complete projects that were abandoned. In fact, one of his campaign messages was ‘Continuity’.

But how has the governor been pursuing this ‘continuity’ agenda so far? We should recall that just before he left office, Akpabio commissioned three of the key projects of his administration: Tropicana Entertainment center, Sheraton Hotel, Ikot Ekpene and Ibom Specialist Hospital. He announced to the people that these projects were fully completed and functional. In the case of the Tropicana, we were informed that the shopping mall was ready and only required being stocked with goods and merchandise. The 17-storey hotel next door, he said, was to be managed by the Hilton group, and that furniture and soft furnishings have already been imported. The same thing was also said of the hotel in Ikot Ekpene which was to be managed by the SPG Group under the Sheraton brand.

As recently as May this year, Mr. Emmanuel Enoidem, the Commissioner for Special Duties under Akpabio who supervised these projects (he also served in another ministry under Udom) stated that all furnishings and equipment for the Sheraton Hotel had been imported before Akpabio left office. In other words, our former governor and his commissioners have consistently maintained that he had completed these projects before he left office. He stated so publicly during his senatorial constituency briefing in Ikot Ekpene in June. In fact, the projects were conspicuously listed in the glossy programme booklet as completed legacy achievements of his administration. For the Ibom Specialist Hospital, this writer can confirm that medical services had commenced some months before Akpabio’s tenure ended. In fact, it was in the hospital that many of the seriously injured victims of the church building collapse of December 10 were treated. But Udom has refused to fund its operations. In fact, he even criticized the hospital in a Thisday newspaper interview as ‘a white elephant’. Only recently, Mr. Nsima Ekere, the MD of NDDC came to its rescue by getting the commission to donate a 500 KVA generator. Le Meridien Ibom Hotel & Golf Resorts, built by the Victor Attah administration, is also suffering a similar financial neglect. The SPG group managing the place has threatened to resign and move out. I understand that the governor, convinced that Akpabio was receiving kickbacks from the managers, has hired PriceWater Coopers to undertake a forensic audit of the place.

Now the question is:  if the Hilton and Sheraton hotels, Tropicana shopping complex and indeed Ibom Specialist Hospital were completed as Akpabio claimed, why is Udom Emmanuel not putting them to use? It is either Akpabio is lying, meaning the projects were not completed, or Udom Emmanuel is just too incompetent to realize the importance of these projects as socio-economic assets and investments? If indeed, the former is the case, i.e. the projects were left uncompleted by the Akpabio administration, why is Gov. Udom not admitting it publicly? Could Akpabio be telling Akwa Ibom people lies about these projects, and yet Udom is concealing the lies. Or could the projects have indeed been completed and Udom does not find them useful enough to be put to use?

As one of Akpabio’s former commissioners puts it, is Udom overcome with envy and malice against Akpabio, so much so that he’s willing to diminish his legacies and deny us of the use of these facilities? What’s going on?

My sense is that Udom Emmnuel is in a dilemma of a kind. He’s always been.  He cannot speak up on the correct status of the projects handed over to him, the volume of debts he inherited and the overall financial position of his state just because he does not want to offend his master, as he calls his predecessor. If the governor admits that the projects were completed before being handed over to him, he will find it difficult to explain why they’ve not been put to use for over two years now. If on the other hand he disavows Akpabio’s claim that they are completed and ready for use, he will offend his benefactor and master to no end. This could be very dangerous for the governor since Akpabio will not tolerate such embarrassment.