Ijaw Youths Warn Jonathan Against Akpabio

The Ijaw Youths Development Foundation has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently end his current romance with Akwa Ibom Governor, Mr Godswill Akpabio if he wants to see the end of his present political problems.
In a statement circulated to journalists in Abuja, the Foundation’s Secretary General, Anthony Timi Birigi said Governor Akpabio is solely responsible for the President’s growing political problems particularly the misunderstanding in the People’s Democratic Party.
“Unless the President, who is our beloved kinsman, brings his current romance with Mr Akpabio to an end, the present political crises are bound to worsen and consequently drawn Mr President and by extension the hope of the Ijaw people,” the Foundation’s Secretary said.
He pointed out that the Ijaw people and indeed the Niger Delta see Mr Jonathan as a political investment for the region and would therefore not see that investment scuttled for the interest of one individual.
“We have no doubt that 99% of Mr President’s problems is a direct result of his continued alliance with Akpabio especially the insistence that he remains chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum against the wish of most of the political actors in the party and the state governors,” Birigi said in the statement.
He reminded Jonathan of the universal principle that in politics, there is no permanent friendship but permanent interest and urged him to save the region’s political interest that is being jeopardized by his romance with Akpabio.
“It is time the entire Ijaw rose and tell our son that Mr Akpabio has so far proved himself a disaster to Mr President’s popularity and a threat to the political future of the Ijaw and Niger Delta as a whole,” said Mr Birigi.
He therefore urged the President to take urgent visible steps to distance himself from Akpabio by first, relieving him of his unpopular chairmanship of the PDP Governors’ Forum.
“As a very first step, the President must immediately relieve Akpabio of the chairmanship of the PDP Governors’ Forum and then things will begin to fall in place,” he said.