In his first full interview since he left government a year ago,
Mr. Umana Okon Umana, former secretary to Akwa Ibom State Government and PDP governorship aspirant in the state, spoke with select journalists on his plans for the development of the state. He also speaks on his views on zoning, the town hall meetings and relationship with the current Secretary To the State Governement (SSG), among other issues.
Kazeem IBRAHYM was there. Excerpts:
DID the governor promise to hand over the governorship of the state to you in 2015?
That is academic. What is important is that I am in the race and I am committed. It does not matter who offered to support me in the past. I think that is now academic because whether the governor offered to support me in the past or he has changed his mind is no longer important. What is important now is that I will be running for the office of governor because I believe I have something to offer in that regard, to make my contributions in order to better our state.
I will not want to talk about whether the governor promised he would support me or whether he is no longer supporting me. That is all in the past. I will rather concentrate on the fact that I am committed. I appreciate the massive support I have continued to enjoy from the good people of the state. That is what is more important to me now.
Did you resign your position as SSG or you were forced out?
It was time for me to move on. The position of SSG is not a permanent one. You hold the position at the pleasure of the governor who appointed you. You may also decide to leave on your own. It is not a big deal. People were only worried about the invasion of the office by security personnel. The office was sealed up by security operatives who chased away bewildered civil servants for inexplicable reasons. I was out of the state at the time of the invasion. The incident was widely reported in the media.
I have also read reports that the wife of the governor led security operatives to seal up the office. The story that the SSG’s office had been sealed up by the Police and SSS was on AIT, Channels and NTA, and so it couldn’t have been a mere speculation. I actually first saw it on the news bar of AIT. I believe the commissioner for information must have issued a statement or contacted those news channels and they had that story running for about three days. Of course, nobody denied it. But it is all in the past now and I have moved on.
I am grateful to Governor Godswill Akpabio who gave me the opportunity to serve the state. I also thank him for acknowledging my humble contributions to the development of the state.
Why are you running for governorship?
I have the experience and competence to run the state as a governor. I yearn for an opportunity to take the state to a new level of prosperity and peace. I have been involved in the last two administrations. I was a Commissioner for Finance in the administration of Governor Victor Attah and SSG under Governor Akpabio. I know how far we have gone and the areas we need to work on. Also, I am aware that we still have a lot to do, especially in the areas of industrialisation and job creation. We must look beyond oil and derivation revenues as we reposition the state for the future. We must create wealth.
Of course, we will make a conscious and deliberate effort to deal with the other soft issues of development like health, education and security, in addition to the expansion of core infrastructureroad network, sea port, power, science and technology. Outside a robust industrialisation programme, we have to pay a special attention to the development of agriculture, because this will create jobs and raise the standard of living of our people. We believe that we will have a paradigm shift, but as I said, we will give you the full package of what we are going to do for the state.
Did you authorise the petition against the governor to the National Human Rights Commission?
We haven’t come out to deny it. It is our petition, but it was not just about me. It is not all about Umana Okon Umana. All of us who have been threatened, we felt the appropriate authority should carry out the investigations. All that we asked for was that the issues should be investigated and we stated our reasons, and that is not too much to ask for. It is not a crime to ask for investigations. If, for instance, you drive to Transcorp Hilton and you notice suspicious movements, you have the right to call the police to come and carry out further investigations.
You are aware of the case of our director-general, Chief Soni Udom, when armed men invaded his office. But thank God, he was not around. There were still many unanswered questions, so we wrote to the appropriate authority so that the matter can be exhaustively investigated and dealt with.
Of course, I had my own personal experience. In December, I received a threat letter, a copy of which I had submitted to the police. I was asked to withdraw from the governorship race, or they will get me in Akwa Ibom, Lagos or Abuja. I did not pay too much attention to it because I had police protection. I was in Abuja when I got the reports that my security details had been withdrawn. It came as a surprise; a curious coincidence, that just a few days after I received that threat, my security details were withdrawn and I was told that the order came from the governor. That gives us cause for concern.
There were many other instances stated in that petition. Of course, we also said that against the backdrop of the several cases of unresolved murders and assassinations witnessed in 2010 and 2011 when elections were around the corner, it is possible there is a correlation. There may be some connection, and we felt that the appropriate authority should investigate and come up with a report. And if some persons are indicted, I believe that the law will take its cause. So, what we did was within the law.
What is your relationship with the current SSG like?
Of course, it has to be cordial. The current SSG, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, is a fine gentleman and from the first day, I wished him well and prayed for his success in office. Attending his swearing-in ceremony was to underscore the fact that I had no ill feelings about my disengagement as SSG. If you occupy that kind of office, you must know that one day, you will leave. It is not a permanent office. Even the office of the governor is not permanent. It has an expiry date. For example, on May 29 next year, the tenure of the current administration will end as provided for in the constitution. You serve and make your own contributions and move on. I did not feel bad that I had to leave as SSG. I was happy that I made my own contributions and I had to move on.
When you were serving in the present government, were you part of assassination plots?
Because I served in this administration, so whatever transpired I must have been the one who gave the advice? No. That was not part of the mandate of my office. If you go and look at the ministerial responsibilities of the office of the SSG, I don’t think you will find any item on how to advise on killings, assassination or murder. It wasn’t part of my mandate, so I only operated and acted within the mandate of my office.
Let me also point out that it is the governor who is the Chief Security Officer. All the security chiefs report to the governor, and it is the governor who is vested with the powers to run the state constitutionally. So the buck stops on his table. He must accept responsibility for the successes and failures of his administration. That is why nobody will talk about Umana or Udom but about the Akpabio administration. It is Attah’s administration, Isemin’s administration. Nobody remembers who was SSG during Obong Attah’s administration or the SSG in Isemin’s administration, because they were not elected governors.
Leadership means you must accept responsibility for whatever you do. You don’t blame your subordinates, especially when you are vested with executive powers. When people talk about the Obasanjo administration in Nigeria, will they talk about Uffot Ekaette? Nobody will talk about him. It doesn’t happen anywhere. Nobody will even talk about the vice president; nobody will talk about the deputy governor. This is because constitutionally, the powers reside in the office of the governor.
Sometimes when I want to joke about it, I say it is only one person that holds the red pen. It is only the governor that has the powers to approve or disapprove. Stretched further, he possibly has the powers of life and death because even for a convicted murderer to be executed, it is only the governor who can sign his death warrant.
There are other false stories that we may have to deal with here because they are interrelated, all pointing at leadership and the requirement to take leadership responsibilities. For instance, there have also been stories that Umana Okon Umana was very powerful as SSG; that many commissioners were sacked on his instructions. I have read that in some of the papers. It is absolutely ridiculous. It is ridiculous because it is only the governor who can hire and fire. If I had the power to sack a commissioner, was it also possible that I would put a gun to the governor’s head, get him to nominate people of my choice to replace those sacked and force him to sign the letters to the House of Assembly for their confirmation? It is totally ridiculous. It shows you that people just sit down and tell stories. That particular story came from one former commissioner for agriculture. I wish him well, but I think it was clearly in bad faith. He should know better as somebody who served in the State Executive Council. Only one person has the power to hire and fire. People like Prof Ekanem should not unwittingly show disrespect to the exalted office of governor by ridiculing Governor Akpabio.
There was also a story that I nominated my successor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, who is also my cousin. Please, the man is not my cousin. I am not related to him in anyway and I did not nominate him for appointment as SSG. But that is not to say that I have anything against him.
So, please, there is a chief security officer in the state. That is why if we have insecurity or if people are not satisfied, they will raise issues. They will raise questions and direct their complaints to the governor. He is the only person saddled with the responsibility to secure all of us; not the Attorney-General who though is the chief law officer, is not the chief security officer. So, when people raise issues on the security of lives and properties and direct it at the governor, it is because he is the chief security officer.
Is it true that you and other aspirants want to form an alliance against the government’s interest?
Well, I don’t know why government should have a special interest in who aspires to the office of governor. All we are asking for is that all aspirants be given a level playing field. This was the situation in the past when Governor Attah was in charge. Even when the incumbent governor contested the primaries against 57 other aspirants, the governor then did not interfere. There was no issue of threats. We didn’t hear Governor Attah telling other aspirants or delegates that they will die or that they would not be allowed into the venues where the primaries would be held. There was nothing like that. Everybody was allowed to make consultations, reach out to the delegates and the party office was open to all aspirants.
Chief Sonny Udom was the PDP chairman for Ikot Ekpene senatorial district and he can confirm this. The party was there for everybody and there was no discrimination. The then party chairman, Chief Otu Ita Toyo, opened his doors and received all aspirants. He was not barred from taking calls from certain aspirants. It is just normal that the aspirants will talk to themselves. There is nothing wrong with that. It is all part of politics. The aspirants can decide to form alliances.
Assuming that the ruling party does not give you the ticket, what will be your next option?
I will do my best to win, believing that the delegates will support me to be the flag bearer of our party, the PDP. So I will be contesting to win and I believe that with the consultations going on, I already have massive support from all over the state. I am looking forward to my victory at the primaries. So, the issue of plan B does not arise.
What is your opinion on zoning?
I want to agree with the gentleman who said that the governor himself in the past had dismissed zoning. He did that on national television when the Minister of Information held the town hall meeting in Uyo during the Good Governance Tour. When the question was put to him about zoning, Governor Akpabio said he was not a product of zoning; that in 2006, there were 58 contestants from all the senatorial districts. Then, the party did not bar anybody. So, there were aspirants from all the three senatorial districts. That was in 2006.
Again in 2011, we had Frank Okon from Eket Senatorial District; we had Imo Udoh from Uyo Senatorial District. I think Frank Okon is still in court, still contesting the outcome of the 2011 governorship election and some of his supporters are still very optimistic that he would be declared governor by the court. So, if he is declared governor, for example, are you still going to talk about zoning? So it shows the level of insincerity and absurdity, underscored by the fact that until I left office the issue of zoning did not arise.
Again you ask, what a curious coincidence that the whole zoning idea came up only after I left office? Why? It is for you to find out. Beyond that, we have been told that there is no equity and justice because Eket has not produced a governor; Uyo had had it through Obong Victor Attah; that Ikot Ekpene is there now having produced this governor and so for equity and justice it should be the turn of Eket Senatorial District. That is one side of the argument. But there are others who have also argued that Eket Senatorial District had governors in the past in the old Cross River State. Esuene was there for nine years and Isong, who was elected, served for four years. Nobody from Uyo zone was governor at that time. So if you want a holistic equity and justice, are you going to turn back the hand of the clock to compensate the people of Uyo senatorial district who had no governors at that time?
It is also instructive that the current managing director of NDDC is from Eket Federal Constituency. So, where is justice and equity and what kind of justice and equity are you talking about?
What is your opinion on the town hall meetings and the outcome?
It seems to me that the pre-determined outcome of the town hall meetings was to pick somebody from Eket Federal Constituency as the favoured candidate for the 2015 governorship race. The meetings were stage-managed to ensure that the position of governor was zoned to one particular person and yet we went through the pains and the expenditure of the town hall meetings, whereas the outcome was already pre-determined. When the notice for the town hall meetings was issued, the reason given by the Commissioner for Information was that the governor would have the opportunity to present his score card and also listen to the people on the performance of his administration.
There was nowhere in the advertorial published by the Ministry of Information preceding the town hall meeting where it was stated that there was going to be a referendum on zoning or on the selection of a governor for the state before the primaries and general elections. There was no such thing. But in the end, it was clear that the town hall meetings were held to promote the interest of a particular aspirant from a particular federal constituency, and also to promote the senatorial ambition of the governor. The outcome of the town hall meetings was an attempt to subvert the Constitution and the will of the good people of Akwa Ibom State.
The country was shocked to hear sycophants chanting the mantra that the governor should unilaterally produce his successor because he had done well. They forget that Govenor Akpabio was elected to govern the state and not to produce a successor. There will be no need for the primaries and elections if Governor Akpabio has already appointed his successor. These sycophants have embarrassed us greatly and they have brought the office of governor into disrepute because Governor Akpabio swore to uphold the Constitution.
Even some of the salient issues that should have been addressed at the town hall meetings were not addressed. For example, nobody provided answers to some questions like how much revenue has accrued to the state. Even when some people alleged that Akwa Ibom has received over two trillion naira and that the performance of government was not commensurate with the level of resources, the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Information has still not provided a detailed revenue and expenditure report whereas transparency is a core requirement of good governance. We expected them the following day to publish everything to say this is what we have received so far; from statutory allocations, derivation, special releases from the excess crude accounts, from the Paris Club reconciliations, from all the recoveries from under-payments, reimbursements and recoveries after the return of oil wells, then they would tell us in total, this was what we received.
This is not asking too much of any government, because transparency is part of good governance. During the town hall meetings there was no such report, and up till now, there is none. All we were told was that all the people who asked such questions were unpatriotic or sponsored. Or that they used fictitious addresses and fictitious names. For performance to be properly assessed, it must be benchmarked against the quantum of resources. The Hon Minister of Finance made the same point recently. I was the commissioner for finance during the administration of Obong Victor Attah and we had quarterly publications on the revenue and expenditure profile of the state. And it was for public consumption; you could walk into the ministry and pick it up.
Until the town hall meetings ended they were not able to provide the information. Even as we speak, they have not provided the information. There was also a question on the debt profile of the state but have we had any answer? These are the issues that ought to have been addressed during the town hall meetings, because they go to the roots of good governance.
