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A former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Umana, has said that it is baseless for people to say that Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State was pressured to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Eno announced his defection on Friday at the Government House, Uyo, in the presence of governors of Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Delta, Ebonyi, Imo, Ondo, and Cross River States.
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Apart from citing the perennial leadership crisis in the PDP at the centre as his reason for leaving the party, Mr Eno said he wants to work for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 without being seen as playing anti-party.
There have been speculations, especially in Akwa Ibom, that some top APC leaders pressured Mr Eno to join the party.
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“I think it’s baseless to say that the governor was pressured to move from the PDP to the APC,” Mr Umana, an APC chieftain from Akwa Ibom, said on Saturday night during an interview with Arise News, arguing that Mr Eno has the right to freedom of association as provided for by the Nigerian Constitution.
“He (Eno) has explained eloquently why he had to move, the intractable problem in his former party, the PDP, the need to align Akwa Ibom State to the centre, especially against the background that as a state and as a party, we have the privilege of producing our distinguished son, Senator Godswill Akpabio, as the Senate president, with the support and help of our party, and of course with Mr President.
“Governor Umo Eno has always stated this clearly that he appreciates what Mr President has done for the country and that it will not be morally right for him, after publicly declaring his support for Mr President and that he will join the campaign for the re-election of Mr President in 2027, he has stated that it will be immoral for him to do that while remaining as a member of the PDP,” Mr Umana said.
He said the APC was happy to welcome the Akwa Ibom governor. “This governor is a performing governor and is highly regarded and loved by the people of Akwa Ibom State,” he said.
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“And because he is a performing governor, and he had consulted widely, not only with members of the PDP, but across the spectrum, with critical stakeholders in the state, his move is very much welcome. And I’ll like to say that this was not a defection by the governor, it was a movement because all members of the House of Assembly also moved with the governor, all chairpersons running local government councils also moved, all the members of the House of Reps, the two senators elected on the platform of the PDP also moved with the governor.
“I am overwhelmed with joy and happiness that without firing a political shot, we won over a sitting governor to our party,” the APC chieftain added.
PDP yet to speak on Eno’s defection
The PDP is yet to speak on the governor’s defection.
With his defection, the PDP has become an opposition party in the oil-rich state for the first time in 26 years.
Mr Eno has become the second PDP governor in the South-south region, after Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, to join the APC in less than two months.
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