Jesusegun Alagbe
The Akwa Ibom State Government has said that despite efforts to foster a cordial relationship between it and the Niger Delta Development Commission’s leadership in the state, the commission’s Managing Director, Obong Ekere, is not ready for such reunion.
A statement by the state’s Commissioner for Information, Charles Udo, said the latest evidence of the NDDC’s hostility was shown last weekend at a thanksgiving service at the Methodist Church Nigeria, Ikot Abasi Diocese, which turned out to be a show of “impudence” against Governor Udom Emmanuel.
The statement read, “It was discovered at the just concluded event that, while the compliments of, ‘His Excellency, Sir and KJW’, were attached to the name of Ekere (the NDDC MD and a former deputy governor of the state), the governor, Emmanuel, was simply addressed as ‘Udom Gabriel Emmanuel’ on page five of the programme, without the corresponding titles and prefix.
“Ekere also attracted criticisms over his pettiness as captured in the programme, when he presented the governor in a tired and casual mood by refusing to use the governor’s official portrait, while presenting himself in a dignified robe.
“If Ekere’s first act was to be regarded as a mere typographical error, what justification would be offered for his refusal to use the governor’s official portrait? And why was the blunder in the programme particularly committed?”
The statement said several people had criticised Ekere “for showing such level of resentment towards the office of his governor.”
The statement quoted an anonymous commenter as saying, “In order words, he (Ekere) was referred to as ‘His Excellency, Sir, KJW’ five times on the event’s souvenir, while the governor is not even fit to be given a ‘Mister.’”
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