BY TONY NYONG
UYO-The Akwa Ibom State deputy governor Mr. Nsima Ekere has resigned from office.
The Deputy governor, who has beaten the members of the State House of Assembly who had perfected plans to impeach him, announced his resignation about 6 p.m. Wednesday 31st October, 2012, after news of the moves to impeach him was confirmed by a reliable source.
The letter of resignation signed by the Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor Mr. Inemesit Ina read, ”The Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere, has resigned from office.”
Mr. Nsima Ekere
”In a letter of resignation dated Wednesday, October 31, 2012, Mr. Ekere said he was resigning on personal grounds.”
”He thanked the Governor and the good people of the state for the opportunity given him to serve the state in the last 17 months.”
”Mr. Ekere wished the Governor and the people well in the remaining years of the administration.”
Earlier in the day at about 10 a.m. when Vanguard called the Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor to confirm the moves by the House, the Press Secretary who though denied the moves had demanded to know how many members had been induced against the speaker.
The development Vanguard also reliably gathered was political as Ekere who has been silently working to succeed the governor in 2015 is alleged to have opened up his plans on how he was going to take over the government.
While our source hinted that the State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio has succeeded in planting his men in almost all the camps, it was further revealed that the Deputy Governor may have opened his mouth too wide at a certain forum where it is alleged that he boasted that he was going to contest the 2015 election as a seating governor.
While the move to undo the Deputy Governor started underground since last week, Mr. Ekere’s efforts to stop the impeachment and save his job could not see the light of the day.
Vanguard source made known that 20 out of the 26 members of the House had been garnered against the second citizen of the State who was only left with six members in his camp.
The decision to resign some politicians said was to help the Deputy Governor to remain politically relevant, because if the House had moved faster to impeach him, he would by the constitution not be able to contest any other election in his life.
The government’s spokesman Mr. Aniekan Umanah could not be reached for government’s reaction as at the press time.
