Akwa Ibom Peoples Democratic Party’s delegates, Obong Paul Ekpo is a leader you can trust at all moments, having served in various capacities effectively and efficiently.
Obong Paul Ekpo is a politician who is has good leadership skills, grassroots presence, mental and physical resilience with the fear of God.
Obong Paul Ekpo, the State Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Akwa Ibom State Chapter, is a politician with ever-growing faith in the unity, consolidation of the gains of uncommon transformation, and especially the mental re-awakening and mega-wealth creation strategies which His Excellency, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, the Executive Governor, has strategically engineered for the attainment of greatness by both Akwa Ibom indigenes and the State.
Obong Ekpo has force of character; major components of this strength are humility, respect for fellow men, compassion, discipline, faith in God, unalloyed loyalty to his boss, and respect for fellow men irrespective of their race, creed, culture, religion and background.
He is a young man with a vast and cultivated mind. He has always approached every assignment he is given with the seriousness and dedication that will not take failure for an answer.
Love for Akwa Ibom people and by extension Nigerians, is the energy that drives him even beyond himself to accomplish much in all the offices he has ever occupied.
He is also very strong in leadership and team building. As a matter of fact, he has capacity to eliminate people’s excuse to failure through motivation. He is also efficient at utilizing the abilities of people under him to achieve results.
Obong Paul Ekpo is a passionate worker, drawing on spiritual, mental and physical resilience in spite of heavy workloads and tight time scales. He has a knack for tackling the unfamiliar and adjusting to new assignments with zeal that elicits peak performance.
He also has the courage and self-confidence to do what is right at all times. All of these sterling qualities enable him to gain influence among people and have largely contributed to his steady rise in politics. They also paved way for him at various places he worked before he joined politics as well as in the various political appointments he has had.
For instance, he left an indelible record at the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs where he served as Commissioner for about five years. That is the supervising ministry for all paramount rulers, clan heads, village heads, family heads and indeed, all royal fathers. The Ministry also supervises all local government chairmen and vice-chairmen, councilors, supervisors, and all local government staff in their various cadres.
To successfully lead and administer such a diversified matrix of men and women needs a lot of tact, wisdom and patience. Obong Ekpo was and will be never found wanting; he lived up to expectations.
It was his outstanding success in that Ministry that informed his assignment to a more challenging responsibility, namely, that of serving as State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party. So far, he has also proved his mettle.
Obong Paul Ekpo was born on 18th November 1969, to the family of Chief Asuquo Ekpo of Nkana Village in Iman Ibom clan of Etinan Local Government Area. He started his primary education in 1974; attended the UNA Primary School, Etinan; sat for and passed the First School Leaving Certificate Examination in 1981.
Between 1982 and 1987 he successfully had his secondary education at the Apostolic Church Secondary School, Ikot Oku Nsit, in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area. In 1987 he proceeded to the University of Uyo for further studies and in 1993 bagged a B.Sc in Political Science and Public Administration.
Thereafter, he proceeded to Lagos State, where he did his National Service Corp serving at the Deaveraux Investment Ltd between 1994 and 1995.
He had also worked at the Federal Character Commission, Abuja, as an Administrative Officer from 1999 to 2000. By 2002 he had moved to Nigeria Export-Import Bank, where he served as Head, Administration and Properties.
Obong Paul Ekpo had attended several professional courses and had training in many areas including information and communication technology, human resource and material management, conflict management, and export financing, to mention some, all in a bid to sharpen his skills in today’s challenging and competitive world.
In 2004, he attended “Credits for Small Exporters and AADFI Agro-Allied Enterprises” in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He also has professional affiliations with the Nigerian Institute of Management, and the Political Science Association of Nigeria.
Politically, he is a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. He had variously served as a national member of the political committee of the Mboho Mkparawa Ibiblo; special adviser (political) of Akwa Ibom Community, Abuja; special adviser (political) of Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio, Abuja; and director of social, Akwa Ibom Community, Abuja from 2002 to 2004. For Akwa Ibom Professionals in Abuja, he was their director of welfare in 2004.
Also, apart from serving as a protocol member of the Godswill Akpabio Campaign Committee in Abuja, Obong Ekpo had been the chapter coordinator of the AKPF (Etinan Chapter) in 2006, and the national president of the Akwa Ibom Grassroot Mandate, AGM, in Abuja.
In August 2007, His Excellency, Chief Godswill Akpabio, appointed him as the Honourable Commissioner for Commerce and Industry and by July 2008, he was re-assigned to Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
Also in the July 2009 Cabinet reshuffle in which a few commissioners were dropped, some new ones appointed, and a few re-assigned to other ministries, Obong Paul Ekpo was still retained by the Executive Governor as Honourable Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, a development many attributed to Obong Ekpo’s loyalty, forthrightness, accountability, dedication to duty, and skill in handling the royal fathers, the Local Government Chairmen, and the councilors.
It was in March 2012 that he was elected as the State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Akwa Ibom State chapter.
As the PDP State Chairman, Obong Paul has amply demonstrated that he is a square peg in a square hole. The steadfastness and diligence he brought to bear on the management of the party, the courage he consistently displayed, and his ability to continually stir up the belief and commitment of the party members, rallied the entire PDP family in the State round the Divine Mandate of Mr. Udom Emmanuel as one strong, invincible and formidable team.
All these political energies culminated in electoral victory not only for the governor, but also for all the Akwa Ibom representatives at the National Assembly and more than 99 percent of the representatives in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.
Right from the nomination of candidates for the 2015 General Elections through the campaigns to the voting and legal contests that followed at the Election Tribunals, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, Obong Ekpo proved that he was a master mobilizer, a convincing leader, and a political bulldozer. The opposition was too weak to match the strength of the Peoples Democratic Party and the resolve of the Akwa Ibom people to defend their mandate which the Supreme Court eventually upheld and confirmed in February 2016.
In recognition of his political wisdom and numerous contributions to the growth and unity of our State and country the Chairman, State Council of Chiefs (2008/2009) and Paramount Ruler of Etinan, on recommendation of the State Advisory Council, had earlier conferred on Obong Ekpo the chieftaincy title of Eduek Akwa Ibom. He also holds other titles such as Obong Emem Offot Ukwa, Obong Unwana NsIt Ubium, and Iberedem Abak, among others.
Also in recognition of his contributions in humanitarian services, he was appointed National Patron of Rescue and Safety Volunteers of Nigeria International. Furthermore, in recognition of his outstanding support for the course of women, youths and leadership, he had been appointed Patron of National Association of Women and Youth Vanguard Initiative. The Correspondents’ Chapel, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Akwa Ibom State Council, Akwa Ibom League of Publishers, had also given him a number of awards including Service Award on Community Development.
A happily married man with blossoming children, Obong Ekpo has politics, travelling, reading, and humanitarian services, as his hobbies.
As you cast your votes to elect State Chairman of our great Party, your vote for Obong Paul Ekpo will be a vote for consolidation of uncommon transformation and confirmation of the Divine Mandate which the party mothered.
Have a Great Delegates Conference.
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