2027: NNPP asks Akwa Ibom speaker to retract claims of having APC tickets in his pocket

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Criticism has continued to trail the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly, Udeme Otong, following his remarks that he has the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in his pocket for the 26 seats in the assembly for the 2027 general elections.

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The latest attack on Mr Otong is coming from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Akwa Ibom State Chapter, which has demanded a retraction from the speaker.

In a viral video circulating on Facebook, Mr Otong was seen boasting that no one would become a member of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly without his approval.

The speaker made the remarks during a courtesy visit by the Ibom Grassroots Development Initiative, a political group, to his country home in Abak Itenge, to mark his 2025 birthday.

“All the tickets are already in my pocket,” Mr Otong said in the video. He spoke in his Annang dialect.

“All the 26 House of Assembly tickets are already in my pocket. I single-handedly negotiated for them, no one else. No one else did. I will personally choose who becomes a House of Assembly member and hand the ticket to the person from my pocket,” he said.

‘Irresponsible, undemocratic’

The NNPP in Akwa Ibom has described the speaker’s comment as “deeply irresponsible, undemocratic, and an affront to the political rights of the people of Akwa Ibom State”.

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Inemesit Akpan, the state chairman of the party, stated in a statement on Wednesday that “no individual, regardless of office, has the authority to appropriate the democratic destinies of entire constituencies”.

Mr Akpan asked Mr Otong to retract the comment and publicly recommit to democratic norms.

“NNPP views this boast as a dangerous attempt to intimidate other aspiring lawmakers from other political parties, and even his so-called party, to manipulate party structures, and undermine the principles of internal democracy.

“Akwa Ibom’s political space cannot and will not be reduced to the personal estate of any political actor.

“We reaffirm that election tickets are not personal property, not bargaining chips, and not tools for political domination. They belong to the people, through transparent party processes guided by law,” Mr Akpan said.

Akwa Ibom has 26 lawmakers in the state assembly. All were members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) until June, when 24 of them defected along with Governor Umo Eno to the APC.

Mr Eno had said he consulted widely, including with the legislature, before leaving the PDP.

There were speculations that the lawmakers may have been promised automatic return tickets for the 2027 general election in exchange for joining the governor in the APC.

Mr Otong, who represents Abak State Constituency, is serving a second term in the assembly.

In the video, he said, “No one will emerge without my approval,” adding that the tickets would be given to individuals with whom the governor would be comfortable working.

It remains unclear whether Mr Eno or the APC made such concessions to the speaker — a move that would effectively render party primaries meaningless.

Both the APC chairperson in the state, Stephen Ntukekpo, and the party’s spokesperson, Otoabasi Udo, did not respond to calls seeking their comments.

APC affiliate condemns speaker’s comment

A group called the APC Media Network, affiliated with the APC in Akwa Ibom, had issued a response to the speaker’s comment, describing it as anti-democratic, provocative, and misleading.

The group’s director, Iniobong John, said, in the statement, that Mr Otong’s remarks wrongly suggested that party candidacies are subject to personal control rather than due process.

The group stated that the speaker lacks constitutional or moral authority to determine the APC nominations, noting that such powers reside exclusively with the party’s recognised organs, in line with its constitution and guidelines.

“For avoidance of doubt, the speaker has no constitutional or moral authority to determine the APC candidacies or to custody party ticket,” the statement stated.

The group stated that there were long-standing members who established the APC in Akwa Ibom State before Mr Otong’s defection. It warned that his comment risks marginalising loyal party stakeholders and undermining internal democracy.

The group called on the speaker to retract the statement and issue a public apology to the APC members, urging him to place the party’s collective interests above personal ambition.

It also asked the national leadership of the APC to clearly reaffirm that the party’s 2027 candidates will emerge through transparent and competitive processes, insisting that APC tickets belong to the party, not to any individual.

The Akwa Ibom speaker, Mr Otong, has yet to comment on the controversy that has followed his remarks.