The leadership of eight opposition parties in Akwa State has raised the alarm over a plot by a member of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Lawrence Udoide to allegedly use the police to arrest them for challenging him for being in possession of an Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) vehicle.
This was disclosed in a statement jointly signed by four chairmen of the Integrity Group State Party Chairmen on behalf of others and made available to journalists on Wednesday.
The statement noted that Udoide who was the former Special Assistant to the Governor on Inter Party Affairs allegedly made away with the vehicle which was donated to the Council since April 2023 by the Akwa Ibom State Government.
The State Chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) Dr Obot Ikpe was said to have been arrested by the police on the order of the lawmaker as the police launched a manhunt for others who are now on the run.
The affected chairmen include; Utip Etiebet, African Action Congress (AAC), Dr Kingsley Akaiso, Action Peoples Party (APP), Coach Chris Ben, National Rescue Mission (NRM) and Dr. Kelvin Umoh and Young Progressives Party (YPP) and others.
One of the Chairmen, who spoke SaharaReporters from hiding, lamented the continued intimidation and harassment by the police saying some of them could no longer stay at home for the fear of arrest and attack.
“Udoide has asked the police to arrest all of us. We simply asked him to bring the bus that was donated to the IPAC. As I am talking to you now I am in hiding. I cannot come out because if I come out police will arrest me. He has told police to arrest all of us that challenged him over this vehicle,” he said.
Udoide was said to have contested for the House of Assembly under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and won but had since then continued to stay put and run the affairs of the IPAC in order to create relevance for himself.
The development was what party chairmen in the state were not comfortable with as they challenged him to hand off the affairs of the IPAC and stay clear of the council.
The statement read “In 2018, it will be recalled that because of the rejection of Lawrence Udoide anti peoples policy as Special Adviser on Inter party affairs, he surreptitiously used police to arrest, detain imprison and incarcerates the state chairmen of National Conscience Party (NCP) Comrade Godwin Umana and Peoples Progressives Party (PPP), Stern Etim and after the arrest, five other state chairmen were declared wanted, but after some days, the matter became a dead case because it lacks substance and was aimed at only intimidating the party leaders then.
“We will not and never run away from our state because of what is going on with other political parties, we will never succumb to the negative antics and intimidation now on course by an agent of PDP in the state; if we die now, we will never die again tomorrow,” the state chairmen maintained.
Meanwhile the chairmen had vowed not to give up irrespective of the intimidation and harassment until Udoide relinquishes the control of IPAC and faces his legislative function for which he was elected.