Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, has reacted to a comment by the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on him and the people of the state.

He said Tinubu does not have anything to bring to the table for Nigerians, hence his decision to abuse people and rain insults during his presidential campaigns.

Speaking at Government House on Monday, Governor Emmanuel also said that despite being insulted by the one time Lagos State Governor, he would prefer to allow peace to reign by ignoring him and focusing on helping install good governance to rescue Nigerians from their present woes.

Tinubu during his rally in Uyo Monday afternoon, said, “Akwa Ibom, that Boy wey bring Atiku here, wey dey call himself Governor, tell him enough is enough! He lives in my backyard in Lagos. If no be say we be one I would have driven him home.

“You see that mansion he is living, I would just use lizards, pigeons and scorpions and put inside.“

But reacting few hours later, the Akwa Ibom State Governor said, for the country to remain at peace, one party must ‘play saint’ and that is why he would refrain from replying Tinubu.

The Governor who is the Chairman of the PDP presidential campaigns stated that, “I also go to other states, and if you watch our campaigns, my principal ( Atiku Abubakar ) has never spoken about any Governor, he has never spoken openly about Asiwaju before.”

Mr Emmanuel said it was unfortunate that Tinubu, who was granted State-owned facilities such as the airport, security, stadium, and a good atmosphere to come in and sell his manifesto, ended up coming to insult the integrity of over 7.9 million Akwa Ibom people.

The Governor wondered if it is possible for any Akwa Ibomite to go to Lagos that Tinubu stays or the actual State that he hails from, to insult him in like manner and still be allowed to safely return home, “but here our people at the Stadium including some state governors just laughed and applauded him”.

“What makes him think he will govern Nigeria? If I reply him now, people will call me and say, haba oga you are not like that. But I will reply him one day. There is nothing like ‘emilokan’ (it is my turn)here, Nigeria is in God’s hands.”

The Akwa Ibom State Chief Executive thanked the newly appointed Permanent Secretaries for accepting the onerous task of service and urged them to see themselves as ambassadors and work towards raising the bar of leadership which will encourage productivity and promote good working relationship with subordinates in the service.

“This is one thing I promised Akwa Ibom people that appointment of Permanent Secretaries shall be totally on merit ; let those that can do the work be given the opportunity. Permanent Secretary is not a promotion, it is an appointment on merit.

Governor Emmanuel also reiterated his commitments towards enhancing efficiency within Civil Service, noting that during his administration civil servants have been promoted on yearly basis, adding that before he exits office more Permanent secretaries will be appointed into the service to fill vacant positions left by the ones who retired.