The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has reacted to the report alleging that a young Nigerian man identified as Daniel Utomette’s appointment was terminated by the management of the Ibom Air Services for being a member of the ruling APC, Igbere Tv reports.

According to the statement signed by the party’s chairman in the state, Obong Iniobong John, the APC questioned the Akwa Ibom state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel and the management of the Ibom Air if being a member of the party has become a crime against the state.

Mr. Obong while condemning the act in his statement, further said that “government offices and establishments are opened for everybody and not members of a certain political party.”

“We used to think and believe that one can seek and get an employment opportunity in the state without necessarily belonging to the party in power in the state,” the statement reads.

Read the full statement as obtained by Igbere Tv below;

“IS MEMBERSHIP OR AFFILIATION TO APC A CRIME AGAINST THE STATE?

Our attention has been drawn to the summary termination of appointment of a certain young man, Daniel Utomette, by the management of the Ibom Air Services purely on grounds of his alleged membership of the APC and we wish to ask every rational and right-thinking person whether membership of the APC has become a crime against the state.

We used to think and believe that as Governor of the State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel was tasked to serve and be responsible to every indigene of the state irrespective of his or her political affiliation.

We used to think and believe that membership of any political party wasn’t a crime against the state.

We used to think and believe that government offices and establishments are opened for everybody and not members of a certain political party.

We used to think and believe that one can seek and get an employment opportunity in the state without necessarily belonging to the party in power in the state.

But we were all wrong.

In the present arrangement in Akwa Ibom state, everything is politicised.

Membership of the APC in the state is now a crime against the state.

As an APC member or sympathizer, for you to be attended to in any government office or establishment, you must hide your political affiliation very well. What that means is that government offices and establishments are opened are opened for only PDP members.

Job opportunities in any government organisation or agency are opened for only PDP members.

We are aware that a task force has been set up by the state government to identify every APC member or sympathizer in the state civil service for political victimization.

All these are calculated to intimidate APC members and sympathizers in the state.

But PDP members are not discriminated against in any of the programmes and schemes of the APC-led federal government.

We know many PDP members who are beneficiaries of the N-power and other social schemes of the APC federal government.

Maybe Mr. President should also direct that no PDP member anywhere in the country should be allowed to take part, benefit or be employed in any of the programmes and schemes of the federal government.

What the PDP government in the state has done to the young man is partisan politics taken too far, the height of pettiness and political intolerance.

You don’t employ and fire someone without the opportunity of taking his first salary simply because he doesn’t belong to your political party.

Obong Iniobong John,
State Chairman,
APC NATIONAL YOUTH CAUCUS.”