A leaked message from ailing Akwa Ibom politician Ufot Ebong, who received $35,000 from Senate President Godswill Akpabio for medical treatment, has stirred controversy on social media. Some have criticised Mr. Akpabio for the leak, while others have defended him.
The message was made public after Mr. Ebong died on 4 October in a hospital in Uyo, Akwa Ibom. The exact nature of his illness has not been disclosed.
The Private Chat
“Thank you, Your Excellency, I’ve received $35,000. God bless you,” the late Mr. Ebong said in an undated private message sent to Mr. Akpabio via WhatsApp.
Ata Ikiddeh, a London-based Akwa Ibom native and close friend of both Messrs. Akpabio and Ebong, shared a screenshot of the private chat on his Facebook page on 9 October. Mr. Ikiddeh had previously served as an aide to Mr. Akpabio on project monitoring during Akpabio’s tenure as governor of Akwa Ibom.
The late Mr. Ebong, an engineer, was Mr. Akpabio’s childhood friend and had served as a senior special assistant to him when he was governor and later to his successor, Udom Emmanuel.
In the private chat, Mr. Ebong prayed that God would help Mr. Akpabio with his health, politics, and family, and informed him, “I’m in Room 113, Ibom Specialty (Hospital).”
Public Reaction
Some individuals who reacted to the publicized chat expressed concern that the Senate President had exposed his late friend and his family to public ridicule. Others, however, praised him for supporting his friend during his illness.
“Oh Ufot Ebong, your private chat is in the public space,” Michael Ekpo, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom, wrote on Facebook on 9 October. “When the mighty fall!”
“Today, I have lost interest in politics,” Mr. Ekpo added in response to a comment on his post.
One commenter suggested that the Senate President was simply defending himself against blackmail, to which Mr. Ekpo responded, “Was that really necessary? This man is dead. Do you know the trauma you will put the family through? Do you know the security implications of publishing such an amount and what the family will go through because of it?”
Another commenter criticised the decision to leak the chat: “Some people act before they think. How can someone publish such a chat just to score a point?”
‘You Are Your Problem’
Zion Umoh, a member of Godswill Akpabio’s 2023 campaign team, expressed disappointment with the Senate President for allowing his aides to release the private chat.
“Dear Godswill Obot Akpabio, I should have been the person to publish that you gave the late Ufot Ebong $35,000 after my long conversation with you, but I carefully chose not to inform the public because the money was sent when Ufot Ebong was already dead on the inside, waiting to be officially pronounced dead,” Mr. Umoh said on Facebook on 9 October.
“With this unexpected and unnecessary behaviour of forwarding the private chats between you and your supposed friend and brother, Ufot Ebong, I have concluded that you are your own problem, not Mrs. Ekaette-Unoma Akpabio, whom we thought was your major problem,” he added.
In Defence of Akpabio
Mr. Ikiddeh, who published the private chat, admitted to Premium Times that it is “ordinarily” unethical to make private communication public, but argued that some circumstances justify it.
“For example, if a woman accuses you of rape but you have personal chats proving that all you did was take her out for a drink and drop her off, you would present those chats in court, and it would be acceptable to share them publicly,” Mr. Ikiddeh explained.
He defended the decision to release the chat as a way to counter accusations that Mr. Akpabio had a history of abandoning his friends in times of need.
Premium Times pointed out that the accusation did not come from Mr. Ebong’s family, to which Mr. Ikiddeh agreed. He added, however, that social media posts had drawn significant attention, with claims that Mr. Akpabio had abandoned his childhood friend, Ufot Ebong.
Although Mr. Ikiddeh did not mention who initially made the accusation, Premium Times discovered that it was Mr. Umoh, a member of Mr. Akpabio’s 2023 campaign team.
“This was not a private chat someone was having in confidence—it was posted publicly. So what did you expect the Senate President to do? The fact is, people around him were concerned, especially during a time when his name was being criticised unfairly on social media.
“Mr. Akpabio is known for his compassion and for helping people. This was his personal friend, a childhood friend. It’s a serious indictment to claim he helps others but not those closest to him. There’s even a post that says it seems he enjoys attending his friends’ funerals rather than helping them when they cry out for help,” Mr. Ikiddeh said.
This revision improves the structure, grammar, and flow of the article for better readability. (Premium Times)
