A socio-political group, Akwa Ibom Integrity Alliance, has urged the state government not to grant the state chapter of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) request to use the newly inaugurated Eket Sports Stadium for flag off its political campaign.
This is contained in a statement by the group’s chairman, Barr Stephen Abia, and made available to newsmen, Tuesday in Uyo, the state capital.
The group, which said it gathered from reliable source in the Ministry of Youth and Sports that YPP wrote to request approval to use Eket Stadium, stressed that government should not trust the party with the facility, if it intends to preserve its legacy.
“We know that Governor Udom Emmanuel, being a leader with a good heart and fairness to all, will not hesitate to grant such approval irrespective of party divides.
“It is against this background that we humbly beg the governor never to consider approving Eket Ultra Modern Sports Stadium for use by the Young Progressive Party under the guise of a political rally,” he said.
But reacting, Chief Usoro Usoro, Director of Communications of the campaign organisation to YPP governorship candidate, Senator Bassey Akpan, said the statement was not surprising because it was issued by Akwa Ibom Integrity group, which is a pro-government group.
“The truth is that they (government) have denied the YPP and Senator Bassey Akpan from all the public venues in Akwa Ibom state. For instance, we requested to use Ibom Hall, we were denied, we requested to use Ikot Ekpene Stadium, we were also denied.
“As I speak to you, the Apostolic Church in Onna, has just suspended a Pastor for hosting YPP. So we are facing serious persecution but we are not detrred”, Usoro simply said.
