- Ex-senator and chieftain of APC Umoyo was expected to make his return to PDP official at the rally organized by Udom's campaign organisation but failed to show up
- The organizers did not explain what went wrong to the teaming crowd that had been waiting for the big defection
- Senator Umoyo's family source claimed he could not make it for his defection party because he was hospitalized a day earlier
A former senator and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Etang Umoyo on Monday, August 20 refused to show up to a special rally partly organized in his favour by Akwa Ibom governor Emmanuel Udom.
According to Vanguard’s report, Governor Udom and his supporters were greatly disappointed when Umoyo failed to appear at the endorsement of the Akwa Ibom chief executive officer for a second term.
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Umoyo, who represented Eket senatorial district from 1992 to 1993, was said to have been expected to announce his return to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the PDP Eket Senatorial District rally but shunned the event.
While the organizers of the event did not explain the ex-lawmaker’s absence Vanguard quoted a family source as claiming that Umoyo was hospitalized on Sunday, August 19 and so could not make it to the rally.
Reports said Umoyo on Friday, August 17, had a meeting with some APC members in his Esit Eket local government area where he announced his defection plans but was challenged by members with angry speeches and placards, accusing him of receiving N10 million from Governor Udom to destroy the APC in Esit Eket.
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However, three other APC members who were not from Eket senatorial district defected during the event and were received by the PDP state chairman Obong Paul Ekpo.
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, August 20, filed charges at an Ikeja high court against serving senator, Albert Bassey, for allegedly receiving 12 cars as bribes worth N254 million.
Bassey, 45, who is representing Akwa-Ibom North-East, received the vehicles between 2010 and 2014 from Olajide Omokore, a businessman, when he (Bassey) served as the Akwa-Ibom Commissioner for Finance.
The EFCC has slammed a 14-count charge bordering on corruption on the duo.
News Nigeria Today: Will Senators, Lawmakers’ Defection from APC Change Power in 2019? - on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng