Governor of Akwa Ibom, Dr. Godswill Akpabio has defended
his controversial wedding gifts to Tuface Idibia and his wife, saying
the gifts were “only a gesture of love and goodwill” to commend the wife
for standing by her husband from his days of humble beginnings.
The
governor however denied the speculated amount of gifts stating that
only members of Mrs Idibia’s family will be sponsored to the couples
wedding in Dubai and not members of the government.
The governor,
who hosted a lavish traditional engagement ceremony for the celebrity
couple in Eket, was reported to have declared a gift of two brand new
Toyota Prado SUVs for the couple and also vowed to sponsor 29 people to
their forthcoming nuptial in Dubai.
The state’s Commissioner for
Information, Aniekan Umana, on Thursday, via a phone conversation that the state governor decided to
“assist Annie Idibia so that her family members and close friends who
are citizens of Akwa Ibom, who cannot afford the trip will be with her
on her wedding day.”
“I wonder why they (mischief makers) like taking on Governor Akpabio. Is it because he is a nice man” Mr Umana asked.
A statement by the Commissioner on Wednesday stated that the Governor only approved a car, and not two, for the couple.
He also said he only promised to sponsor 20, and not 29, wedding guests to Dubai for the couple’s white wedding.
The
statement explained that state government is “only sponsoring the
travel expenses of twenty of her family members at an estimated cost of
roughly Three Million Naira (N3,000,000.00) only.”
The statement
reads as follows: “following spurious and false speculations in the
social media concerning the wedding gift by Governor Godswill Akpabio to
Mrs. Annie Innocent Idibia, née Macaulay, I wish to state as follows:
“That
the Governor of Akwa Ibom State Chief Godswill Akpabio, donated ONE
Prado jeep to Mrs. Annie Innocent Idibia, nee Macaulay a daughter of
Akwa Ibom State and renowned artist during her traditional marriage at
Eket.”
“That the State Governor as a token of support for the
couple promised to fund the traveling expenses (economy return tickets)
for ONLY TWENTY relatives of Mrs. Annie Idibia Macaulay to Dubai, where
the couple have chosen to wed.”
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