Godswill Obot Akpabio was elected governor of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 in April 2007, taking office on 29 May 2007. He is a member of the People's Democratic Party

People's Democratic Party (Nigeria)

The People's Democratic Party is a political party in Nigeria. Its policies generally lie towards the right wing of the political spectrum. It has won every single Presidential elections since 1999, namely: 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011, and is the dominant party in the Fourth Republic.-History:In...

 (PDP).
He ran successfully for reelection on 26 April 2011.

Background

Godswill Obot Akpabio was born at Ukana, Ikot Ntuen, Akwa Ibom State on 19 of December, 1962. He attended the Federal Government College, Port Harcourt, then read Law at the University of Calabar

University of Calabar

The University of Calabar - also known as UNICAL - is a university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria. It is one of Nigerian's second generation universities. The University of Calabar was a campus of the University of Nigeria until 1975...

. He completed his legal education at the Nigerian Law School

Nigerian Law School

The Nigerian Law School was set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1962 to provide a Nigerian legal education to foreign-trained lawyers, and to provide practical training for aspiring Legal Practitioners in Nigeria....

 before being called to the Bar. He became a teacher at the Afaha Secondary School, Essien Udim

Essien Udim

Essien Udim is one of the Annang speaking Local Government Areas in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. It was created out of the former Ikot Ekpene division and included the following clans in Annang land: Ukana, Adiasim, Ikpe, Okon, Nsasak, Ekpenyong Atai and ,Ukana Ikot Ntuen,Odoro Ikot, AFaha...

 in 1982. He then joined Paul Usoro & Co, Lagos

Lagos

Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...

, a law firm, as Associate Partner. In 1995 he was Director, Corporate Affairs/Legal Services of EMIS Telecoms.
In 2002 he was appointed Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources, followed by positions in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and then the Ministry of Lands and Housing in 2006.

Governor of Akwa Ibom State

In April 2007, Godswill Akpabio successfully ran for governor of Akwa Ibom State on the People's Democratic Party

People's Democratic Party (Nigeria)

The People's Democratic Party is a political party in Nigeria. Its policies generally lie towards the right wing of the political spectrum. It has won every single Presidential elections since 1999, namely: 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011, and is the dominant party in the Fourth Republic.-History:In...

 (PDP) platform. He took office on 29 May 2007.

In 2010 he appeared on CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, saying that witchcraft is not a problem in his state.
He ran successfully for reelection on 26 April 2011.
Akpabio gained 975,585 votes, while the runner-up John Akpanudoedehe of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) scored 163,449 votes.