In first visit to Akwa Ibom since his successor’s defection to APC, ex-Gov Emmanuel speaks of ‘direction’ for 2027 elections

The former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, received a warm welcome in Uyo from a crowd which gathered at the Victor Attah International Airport to receive him on Wednesday.

It is Mr Emmanuel’s first visit to the state since his successor, Umo Eno, defected about three months ago from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Party (APC), which is the ruling party in Nigeria.

After completing his tenure, Mr Emmanuel returned to a private life in Lagos State, South-west Nigeria, where he previously worked as an executive director in Zenith Bank before he was elected governor in 2015, amid speculations of a frosty relationship with Governor Eno.

The former governor arrived in Uyo in a chartered flight, accompanied by Ini Ememobong, who resigned as commissioner for Special Duties and Ibom Deep Seaport from Governor Eno’s cabinet when the governor defected to the APC. Messrs Emmanuel and Ememobong are members of the recently constituted planning committee for the 2025 PDP national convention.

Mr Emmanuel was received at the airport by several politicians and Akwa Ibom government officials, including the Deputy Speaker of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly, Kufreabasi Edidem and at least three other state lawmakers – that of Eket, Etinan and Oruk Anam.

A former education commissioner, Idongesit Etiebet, a former transition chairperson of Ini local council, Innocent Udom, and a former spokesperson of the PDP in Akwa Ibom, Borono Bassey, were among those who received Mr Emmanuel.

From the airport, Mr Emmanuel proceeded in a motorcade to his Awa Iman hometown in the Onna Local Government Area of the state, where there was a fanfare and a bigger crowd to receive him.

Speaking in the Ibibio dialect, the former governor thanked the people for the warm welcome.

“Let not thy heart be troubled, we came here for a burial, not politics. When it is the right time, I’ll come back to give direction, and that would determine those who are on the right path and those who have left to the wrong side,” Mr Emmanuel reportedly said, apparently referring to the 2027 general elections.

He appealed to the people, especially the youths, to remain calm and law-abiding.

The PDP Chairperson in Onna, Kingsley Johnny, presented to Mr Emmanuel a portrait of the former governor and thanked him for “standing firm for the PDP”.

Mr Emmanuel is in Akwa Ibom for the burial of his cousin, Ukpong Ukpong, who will be interred this Saturday at Awa Iman, according to a statement on Wednesday from the former governor’s spokesperson, Stephen Abia.

No rift with my predecessor – Gov Eno

Governor Eno has repeatedly stated that there was no rift between him and his predecessor, despite his defection to the APC.

“We are in Eket Federal Constituency. My political father (Udom Emmanuel) comes from this federal constituency. Let me make it abundantly clear that there’s no issue between me and my political father. No issue whatsoever,” Mr Eno said last month to a crowd during a campaign-style event in Eket, Akwa Ibom State.

“We’ve moved in the best interest of Akwa Ibom State for today so that we can pull our support for President Bola Tinubu. That does not cause any confusion.

“I visit him (Udom Emmanuel). I talked with him and we are still together. I am his political son. He brought me out to run for governor, and so he would always earn our respect, our support, and so I’d like to make that assurance to our people, particularly our sons and daughters from Onna.

“If anybody tries to insult him, you are doing so at your peril. He is still our father and would continue to earn our respect,” the governor said at the event.

About two months ago, some top politicians in Onna, some of them former allies of Mr Emmanuel, including a former PDP BoT member, Pat Ifon, a former commissioner of works in the state, Ephraim Inyang-Eyen, and a former House of Representatives member, Owoidighe Ekpoattai, held a special meeting under the auspices of the APC to declare their political loyalty to President Bola Tinubu and Governor Eno.

Mr Ifon later told PREMIUM TIMES that his takeaway from the meeting was that the heritage APC members in Onna were ready to receive him and the other defectors from the PDP for the interest of Governor Eno and the APC.

“Yes, Onna is now APC,” he said with emphasis.

The oil-rich Akwa Ibom has been governed by the PDP for 26 years, since the return of democratic rule in 1999. In the state, winning the PDP nomination in the past was likened to winning a general election, prompting the PDP members to describe the party as a “religion” in the state.

Since Mr Eno’s defection, many politicians in the state, including his cabinet members and federal and state lawmakers, have been switching over to the APC in what the political class in the state describes as “political realignment”.

However, there are some, like the then-commissioner for Special Duties and Ibom Deep Seaport, Mr Ememobong, who resigned from Mr Eno’s cabinet and remained in the PDP instead of defecting to the APC.

A former top official of the Umo Eno 2023 governorship campaign, Emmanuel Enoidem, and a former House of Representatives member, Onofiok Luke, have refused to defect from the PDP to the APC.

Chris Abasi-Eyo, the honorary special adviser on media and publicity to Governor Eno, resigned his appointment in June and stated that he preferred to remain in the PDP.

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PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the member representing the Onna State Constituency in the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly, Sunday Johnny, and the Chairperson of the Onna Local Government Council, Kufre Umoren, have refused to defect to the APC, in an apparent show of loyalty to the former governor, Mr Emmanuel.

“There are so many politicians, so many (government) officials in this state who have joined the APC just to please (Governor) Umo Eno temporarily because of what they want to get from him and the government, they will definitely come back to the PDP soon,” a politician in the state told PREMIUM TIMES, Thursday.