An aide to Governor Udom Emmanuel has declared to run for the Nigerian Senate in 2023, despite the governor, alongside some political leaders in Akwa Ibom State, zoning the particular race to an area outside where the aide hails from.
The aide, Ephraim Inyangeyen, who is the chief of staff to Mr Emmanuel, met on Friday with his extended family to officially inform them of his intention to contest the senatorial election for the Akwa Ibom South District.
Mr Inyangeyen and the governor hail from Onna Local Government Area of the state.
Onna is in Eket Federal Constituency which is part of Akwa Ibom South District.
Governor Emmanuel and others have agreed to a deal that the next senator for the district should come from another constituency – Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency.
After Governor Emmanuel declined interest in the Senate race, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders in the district met last month at the residence of Nduese Essien, a former minister of Lands and Urban Development, and took a decision to zone the Senate race to Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency.
Those who attended the meeting included the Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, Emmanuel Ekuwem, a former Nigerian ambassador to Russia and Belarus, Assam Assam, and a former commissioner for information, Chris Abasi-Eyo.
Governor Emmanuel’s chief of staff, Mr Inyangeyen, was also at the meeting.
Mr Inyangeyen did not speak at the meeting, nor did any of the attendees oppose the resolution, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.
The chief of staff did not respond to calls and a text message from our reporter.
Mr Essien, who is the political leader in the district, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES the meeting took place in his residence.
He also confirmed that Governor Emmanuel said he was not interested in going to the Senate.
“We expect to have very competent persons from Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency and they will be subjected to scrutiny, out of which we will choose who to represent us in the red chambers,” Mr Essien was quoted by local media to have said at the January meeting.
Why I’m against zoning – Inyangeyen
Mr Inyangeyen, while consulting the PDP leaders on Friday in his ward in Onna, said zoning was not bringing “the best” to the district.
“It is my position that everything henceforth be based on competence and credibility. Let all those who seek that office test their popularity in the field.
“Everybody in Eket Senatorial District feels the same level of sadness over the kind of representation the senatorial district has witnessed in the past 15 years.
“Any patriotic son or daughter of the senatorial district should be bothered. Hence my decision to commit my capacity to the kind of change I envision,” Mr Inyangeyen said.
The Chairman of PDP in his ward reportedly said Mr Inyangeyen “has all it takes to bring a new dawn” to the district.
Essien Ndueso, a media aide to Governor Emmanuel, apparently reacting to Mr Inyangeyen’s ambition, said in a Facebook post that the political leaders of the Akwa Ibom South District have spoken on the matter, and that “responsible indigenes” of Eket Federal Constituency where the chief of staff hails from would give support to Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency.
Mr Inyangeyen was scheduled to consult the PDP, Onna chapter, on Saturday, February 19, but the meeting had been postponed indefinitely, according to the PDP Chairman in Onna, Ubong Adiakpan.
Mr Adiakpan, a lawyer, said the PDP was yet to take a position on the zoning of the senatorial election.
The PDP chairmen in the different local government areas in the district were not involved in the zoning of the senatorial race to Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency, he said.
History of zoning in the district
Besides Eket Federal Constituency and Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency, Oron Federal Constituency is among the three that make up the Akwa Ibom South District.
A former senator, Udo Udoma, from Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency, represented the district from 1999 to 2007, followed by Helen Esuene, from Eket Federal Constituency, from 2007 to 2011.
Eme Ekaete, also from Eket Federal Constituency, represented the district from 2011 to 2015.
Nelson Effiong, from Oron Federal Constituency, succeeded Mrs Ekaette, and represented the district from 2015 to 2019. He was succeeded by Akon Eyakenyi whose tenure would end in 2023.
Mr Inyangeyen has been Mr Emmanuel’s trusted friend for several years even before the latter became governor in 2015.
He was first appointed commissioner for works before he was moved to the position of chief of staff in 2020.
There are speculations that the relationship between the two was becoming frosty because of political differences.
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