Akwa Ibom State Governor’s media team begins attack on APC leaders

Governor Udom Emmanuel’s media team held an emergency meeting on Monday to review the raging controversy and public anger over the Governor’s Lodge project in Lagos.

The meeting was held at the Ministry of Information and was presided over by the Information commissioner, Mr. Charles Udoh with the permanent secretary, Pastor Praise Okon, the CPS, Mr. Ekerete Udoh and many media aides like Essien Ndueso, Uwemedimo Umanah and Meflyn Anwana in attendance.

The meeting reviewed the media disaster the very unpopular Governor’s Lodge project in Lagos has turned out to be for Governor Udom Emmanuel and the media team.

One of the media aides who confided in some journalists that evening after the meeting said that they agreed at the meeting that to divert people’s attention from the Governor’s Lodge controversy, media attacks should be launched on two major APC leaders, Obong Nsima Ekere and Senator Ita Enang in the local papers and the social media.

The media aide said that it was agreed at the meeting that the news of the accident involving the convoy of Obong Nsima Ekere should be revisited to give the impression that Obong Nsima Ekere was at fault and was insensitive.

The media aide said that it was agreed that Senator Ita Enang should be attacked and made to look as if he was not loyal to the Ag. President and would soon be sacked.

The media aide said that the meeting also agreed to plant artificial stories of infighting in the APC in the media and said that the commissioner assured them that he was going to plant those stories against the APC leaders in the national papers also.

The media aide, who also worked for Governor Godswill Akpabio angrily blamed the whole media disaster on the inexperience and inefficiency of the commissioner and the CPS and said that the Works Commissioner Ephraim Inyang has even scolded them.

The media aide said that if it was in the days of Aniekan Umanah and Anietie Ukpe as Information commissioner and CPS, that kind of embarrassment wouldn’t have happened because the government would have responded on time.

He said that for two days when the controversy broke out, the commissioner was silent and hoped that the controversy would go away even when many of them called him to respond.

He said that without briefing anybody the commissioner came out after two days to give a figure of N2b for the construction of the Governor’s Lodge in Lagos after Joseph Okon, SA on Grassroot Mobilisation had come out to give a flimsy explanation.

He said that it was embarrassing for the CPS to counter the commissioner that it was renovation of the old Governor’s Lodge and not construction of a new one.

He said that the biggest embarrassment was when Hon. Usoro Akpanusoh, the chairman of the House of Assembly appropriation committee came out to counter the commissioner the next day that it was N1.2billion after N2billion has been reported everywhere quoting the commissioner.

He said he watched with shame and tears in his eyes as the commissioner and Governor started using N1.2billion after national papers had published N2billion.