The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State has dismissed as a “mere rumour” the speculations that the Governor of the state, Umo Eno, is planning to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
At least three senior officials of the Akwa Ibom government have told PREMIUM TIMES that the plan for Mr Eno’s defection is real. “It’s something that bothers us because we don’t even know how we can go about this (the planned defection),” one official said, on condition of anonymity.
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Mr Eno’s recent endorsement of President Bola Tinubu and Senate President Godswill Akpabio for re-election in 2027 has heightened speculation that it is just a matter of time before he dumps the PDP.
Messrs Tinubu and Akpabio are members of the APC.
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Mr Eno said he is endorsing Mr Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom, because the senator stands a chance to be re-elected as Senate president compared with a first-term senator from Mr Akpabio’s Akwa Ibom North-West District.
“Anybody who wants to go to the Senate in Ikot Ekpene (Akwa Ibom North-West District) should wait first, except you tell me you want to go and become Senate president, and you know it is not possible. This one that we have, let us support him,” the governor said recently.
However, Mr Eno declined to disclose the reason he shunned his party to endorse President Tinubu for re-election.
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PDP speaks
But while the APC members are upbeat about the prospect of Governor Eno joining their party, the PDP spokesperson, Edwin Ebiese, told PREMIUM TIMES that it is a “rumour.”
“No reliable platform so far has reported that the governor granted an interview and told them he is moving to another party,” Mr Ebiese said on Monday in a response to our reporter’s enquiry.
“I will wait until that is done. For now, it is a rumour, and I will not respond to a rumour,” he added.
Our reporter spoke with some APC members in Akwa Ibom on Governor Umo’s alleged plan to defect to the APC.
“I can’t wait to see the results of all of these,” Imaobong Akpan, an APC member, said of the various political endorsements in Akwa Ibom.
“As a member of the APC in Akwa Ibom, trust me, I will be happy to receive, if our governor and the rest of the PDP members join us. I can’t wait because it has been my hope and prayer over the years for the APC to be in power in Akwa Ibom.”
PREMIUM TIMES reminded Ms Akpan that there was no official confirmation yet that the governor was joining the APC.
“I can tell you it’s a done deal,” she responded.
Ms Akpan commended Governor Eno’s leadership style, which has engendered a “fusion” between the APC and PDP in Akwa Ibom, but said she is worried about the absence of opposition in the state politics. “This isn’t good for our democracy,” she said.
Otoabasi Udo, the APC spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, told our reporter on Sunday that the public was yet to hear the last from Messrs Eno and Akpabio.
“One of them will likely empty himself into the other,” he said, apparently referring to the speculations about the governor joining the APC. “If that happens, it is good for our party.”
Akwa Ibom and PDP
The PDP has governed oil-rich Akwa Ibom since democracy returned in 1999. If Governor Eno defected to the APC, it would not only be historic but also likely puncture the saying that the “PDP is a religion in Akwa Ibom.”
Mr Akpabio succeeded Victor Attah as governor in 2007. He governed for two terms and, in 2015, handed over to Udom Emmanuel, a former executive director at Zenith Bank.
In the same year (2015), Mr Akpabio was elected a senator under the PDP platform, where he served as a minority leader despite being a first-term senator.
However, in 2018, Mr Akpabio defected to the APC about a year after being quizzed by the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
A year later, in 2019, he failed to return to the Senate under the APC platform, losing to the PDP candidate, Christopher Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently appointed him the minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
In 2023, Mr Akpabio secured an overwhelming victory for a second term and later emerged as the Senate president.
In what may be seen as a political horse-trading, Mr Eno told a crowd at a town hall meeting on Thursday that Mr Akpabio has repeatedly promised to support him for a second term as governor.
“The Senate president has told me at many fora, and our mother (Mrs Akpabio) has also spoken that they will support me for a second term. So, if you take your own, I take my own, you fall for me, I fall for you. Na play, no be fight,” he said.
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