April 17, (THEWILL) – Chief Usoro I. Usoro, spokesperson to a governorship aspirant in Akwa Ibom State, Senator Bassey Albert, speaks on issues around the forthcoming governorship election in the state and Albert’s chances of winning, in this interview with UDEME UTIP. Excerpts:
Ephraim Inyang-Eyen, one of key supporters of Senator Bassey Albert said there was a pact between Governor Udom Emmanuel and Albert to make the latter succeed him in 2023. How true is this?
I think that when Governor Udom Emmanuel came out to contest for governorship, one of the closest persons to him was Ephraim Inyang-Eyen. I wasn’t there. If there is somebody who knows about a pact between the governor and Senator Albert, it will be Inyang-Eyen. So if he says there was a pact, I would believe him.
Let me also say that there is a senior colleague in Abuja who was in Udom’s campaign team (I won’t mention his name). He told me clearly that he and Senator Effiong Bob was present when the agreement was reached.
The third person is Albert himself, who we know has been a commissioner in this state. Whether in age or experience, he knows what he is talking about. The person you’re quoting wasn’t there. So who will you believe? Is it person who witnessed it or the one that wasn’t there? I have said that I wasn’t there and that is the truth. But I have mentioned three people who were there and should be believed.
Does your principal stand a chance of getting his party’s governorship ticket in the primaries?
One of the things that made me accept Senator Albert’s offer to work with him the was what I saw around him, which convinced me that he is going to win his party’s ticket. And I assure you that he’s going to win. You see somebody who contested the election in 2014, stepped down and maintained those structures till this moment. Do you expect that kind of person to fail?
Albert has also been talking to other people. Instead of losing them to his opponents, he has been winning other people to his side. He is not the kind of person that will wake up one morning to contest an election. Instead, he has been planning systematically. This is someone who decided on his volition to contest because he has something to offer his people. If you look at the trend among people who reluctantly contest elections, you will see that they leave behind them a trail of disappointing performances. You will see the uncompleted projects that they left behind. One person who truly prepared for an election is my former boss, Senator Godswill Akpabio. From day one, he hit the ground running. From the very first day, he asked me to come and join him, I came back to meet a blueprint already prepared. That was why he didn’t look for what to do, but knew how to get it done. So if you ask me about the chances of my principal winning his party’s primary in Akwa Ibom, I would say that they are very strong.
Come 2023, the people of Akwa Ibom will be looking for the best person to govern the state. What is Senator Albert bringing to the table for the people?
Senator Bassey Albert has a lot to bring to the table. If you look at his pedigree, first as a banker, who rose to become vice-president of the bank, you will agree with me that such a person is not a pushover. By providence, he was appointed commissioner for finance in Akwa Ibom at a critical period in the history of the state. I would like to point out that as chief press secretary, I coined the much talked about “uncommon transformation”. But the person who brought that about was Senator Bassey Albert because it was his job. It is one thing for a governor to have a vision, it is another thing for the commissioners to interpret the vision and actualise them through an inter-ministerial direct labour project.
When he was the commissioner for finance in the state, Albert supervised more than 6,000 projects which were executed in this state. I believe that someone like that will always bring something to the table. In the Senate, some of his bills have saved Nigeria a lot of wastage. Someone who is experienced both the executive and legislative sides certainly has a lot to bring to the table. If you talk about his direct programme, it may interest you to know that he gave the people of Eket his blueprint. Oba has a blueprint that covers all the critical aspects of the economy. This is something he started even as a senator.
He has awarded over 400 scholarships and because of the conducive environment, that scheme has produced about 28 people who graduated first class and about 221 others who graduated in the second-class upper division. So, someone like that has a plan for the youth, the elderly, the women and the entire Akwa Ibom State. He knows the problems of the people and identifies them whether short, medium or long term. He is bringing economic emancipation to the table. He charges the youth to take their destinies into their own hands. He is going to reduce hunger and poverty, which have been used as weapons to strangulate the people of this state.
