… recall deaths, sufferings in emotional petition circulated to party leaders
“We attended meetings. We mobilized voters. We defended the party. We campaigned when victory was uncertain. We spent personal resources. We endured political pressure… For many years, there was no political ‘rest’ for us,” Ekaette wrote
By Ime Silas
_UYO, Akwa Ibom State – The Forum of APC Foundational Members in Akwa Ibom State has written to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, alleging that the outcome of the party’s recent primaries in the state has deepened years of exclusion for those who built the party in opposition.
In a letter dated September 14, 2026 and signed by the Forum’s Secretary, Ukobong Ekaette, the group said none of the elective tickets for the 2027 general elections was given to an “old or foundational member” of the APC in Akwa Ibom.
“Mr. Chairman, you have aggravated our pains,” the letter stated. “This is not sarcasm. It is not an insult. It is the language of a disappointed people who had hoped that their sacrifices would finally receive recognition.”
“We have hardly known rest”
The Forum recalled years of grassroots work before the APC took power both at the federal level and in Akwa Ibom.
“We attended meetings. We mobilized voters. We defended the party. We campaigned when victory was uncertain. We spent personal resources. We endured political pressure… For many years, there was no political ‘rest’ for us,” Ekaette wrote.
He noted that while the National Chairman had announced a vacation “for the purpose of taking some time to rest and reflect,” many foundational members have not had that opportunity.
“While you are taking this well-deserved opportunity to rest, permit me to remind you that some of us have hardly known rest for many years… Perhaps your period of reflection can become our opportunity for relief.”
“The petition was a cry for balance”
Ekaette said the group had earlier petitioned the national secretariat, not to block new defectors, but to ask for “balance” in the sharing of tickets.
“I pleaded for something much simpler, which is, balance. I asked that, among the numerous nominated positions being contested for, some consideration be given to old and foundational members who had spent years building and defending the party.”
According to the Forum, the primaries produced zero flagbearers for old members across “26 State House of Assembly positions, 10 House of Representatives positions, three senatorial positions and one governorship position.”
“Was there truly no old and foundational member among the millions of Nigerians who stood with the APC in Akwa Ibom who was worthy of carrying the party’s flag?” the letter asked.
The 99,830 votes and the memory of the fallen
The group cited INEC’s 2023 presidential results in Akwa Ibom, where the APC polled 99,830 votes, representing 27.61 percent, despite being in opposition in the state at the time.
“Behind every one of those votes was a human being… And among those approximately 100,000 people were many old and foundational members who had remained with the party through its difficult years.”
The letter also invoked the name of the late Frederick Richard Okon, who was killed at age 22 during the 2016 elections in Mbierebe Akpawat, Ibesikpo-Asutan, while “insisting on the sanctity of the ballot box.”
“If Frederick Richard Okon could speak to the APC today, what would he say about the political fate of the people for whom he sacrificed his life? Does the soul of Frederick Richard Okon… receive eternal rest with this decision of the party under your leadership?”
Questions for the President and Vice President
Copies of the letter were sent to President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the SGF, the Chief of Staff, and the APC National Secretary. The Forum said no visible intervention followed their earlier petition.
Ekaette questioned what message the current arrangement sends ahead of 2027:
“As they prepare to seek the confidence of Nigerians again, what message does the treatment of the party’s old and foundational grassroots members send to those whose votes and mobilization will be needed in 2027?”
Personal testimony
The Secretary made the appeal personal, stating that he served as an APC agent in the 2023 election and helped the party win his polling unit.
“I personally campaigned and mobilized votes for the APC… I served as an agent of the party. I took personal risks to protect the party’s votes in a PDP-dominated political environment. The party won my polling unit, Primary School Afaha Etok, (Unit 006), Ibesikpo Ward One.”
He added: “I do not present this fact as an entitlement for a political position… I present it because my experience represents that of countless ordinary party members. We worked because we believed. We sacrificed because we believed.”
Warning and final appeal
Drawing lessons from the PDP’s fall from dominance, the Forum warned that political parties are only as strong as their grassroots foundation.
“The foundation is the ordinary member. The ward. The polling unit… If these people become disillusioned, the party’s foundation begins to crack.”
The letter concluded with an appeal for reconsideration:
“If your period of rest and reflection leads you to conclude that some decisions deserve reconsideration, please do not hesitate to make the necessary amends. Because while you are seeking rest from the pressures of leadership, many of us are seeking rest from the wounds of political exclusion.”
“Let your rest produce reflection. Let your reflection produce wisdom. Let wisdom produce justice. Let justice produce inclusion. And let inclusion finally give the old and foundational members the rest they have waited for.”
As of press time, the APC National Secretariat had not issued a formal response to the letter.
