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Godswill Akpabio’s ambition to return to the Nigerian Senate suffered a major setback over the weekend, as some chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State said they would not support him in the forthcoming election.

Mr Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, is the APC senatorial candidate in the Akwa Ibom North-West District in the 25 February election.

A multi-partisan meeting, chaired by the leader of the APC in Akwa Ibom, Don Etiebet, was held on Saturday at Mr Etiebet’s residence in Uyo where a decision was taken on Mr Akpabio’s political ambition.

Mr Etiebet, a former minister of petroleum, is a BoT member of the APC.

The communique issued after the meeting, which Mr Etiebet forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES, Sunday afternoon, said the APC leaders in Akwa Ibom North-West District resolved to support Mr Akpabio’s opponent, Emmanuel Enoidem, who is a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the senatorial election.

Their reason, according to the communique, is that the Abak Federal Constituency where Mr Enoidem hails from is the only federal constituency which has not yet produced a senator for 56 years, since 1963, whereas others, including the Ikot Ekpene Federal Constituency where Mr Akpabio hails from, has produced a senator multiple times.