A former Minister of Lands and Housing, Nduese Essien, said Akwa Ibom Governor, Umo Eno, was forcing state, federal lawmakers, and council chairpersons to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the action “calls into question the sincerity of the governor’s commitment to inclusiveness and political tolerance.”
Governor Eno formally defected from the PDP to the APC last Friday at an event in Government House, Uyo, attended by governors of Edo, Imo, Ebonyi, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, and Cross River states.
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Mr Essien, a former federal lawmaker, also attended the ceremony.
Defection, sincerity and commitment to inclusiveness, political tolerance
Months before his defection, Mr Eno had told the people he was executing governance across party lines, emphasising that political parties are only vehicles to contest elections.
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When he finally confirmed he was leaving the PDP for the APC about two weeks ago, he promised to work with everybody, irrespective of party affiliations.
Amidst these assurances, he warned cabinet members unwilling to join him in the APC to prepare their resignation letters.
“Prepare to resign the day I announce that I am moving because you cannot; you are an appointee, and your loyalty is fully to me. You can’t be in my cabinet and play anti-party. It is what it is.
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“I am even begging you to come, you normally don’t expect it. You have the right not to support me again, but the right you don’t have is to remain in my cabinet after I leave. I am making it clear,” Mr Eno had said
In his defection speech, Mr Eno said that, despite joining the APC, he would continue to govern the state through a bipartisan prism. However, he also told cabinet members that joining the APC was non-negotiable, forcing one of the commissioners to resign.
“For our team members, I have said it before, particularly for my first eleven (Exco members), I am not hiding it. While we talk and persuade the politicians and those who contested elections to see the need to join this movement, I demand from my first eleven complete loyalty.
“I will not negotiate that. You are an appointee at the pleasure of the governor, and I will not permit that you serve without joining my party. Let me make it clear so that you can hear it,” Mr Eno threatened, casting doubt on his insincerity about working across party lines.
Ex-minister queries Eno’s commitment to political inclusiveness, tolerance
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Essien said as an elder statesman, he attended the defection ceremony in solidarity with the governor, and added that it has led to several misrepresentations, which he aimed to correct.
The statement was posted on Facebook.
He said his presence at the event was not a declaration of party affiliation, stressing that he had resorted to offering advice, promoting peace, and standing for what is just and equitable in our state and country since 2014, when he turned 70.
Mr Essien described Mr Eno’s defection as a personal decision backed by the leadership crisis in the PDP and the governor’s desire to prepare himself for the next election.
“Seeing the unending nature of the controversy, Governor Eno has taken the right decision to secure his next election in a party platform that is relatively stable, for now, at the national level. Joining the APC naturally takes him to work with the government at the centre with envisaged ancillary benefits. It is my wish that his hopes be fulfilled in this regard.
“However, the decision of the governor to coerce Members of the State, National Assembly, and Chairmen of Local Governments calls into question the sincerity of the governor’s commitment to inclusiveness and political tolerance. These elected officers are operating on a separate and independent mandate and should be free to make their decision,” the former minister said.
The minister said Mr Eno had, before defection, demonstrated “an admirable level of maturity in navigating party lines by endorsing the reelection bid of President Bola Tinubu and Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, despite being a PDP member then.
“Sadly, such magnanimity has not been reciprocated by the Senate president or his political machinery. Appointments, empowerment programmes, and political opportunities have remained exclusive to APC loyalists, leaving out PDP members and even those who have chosen neutrality for the sake of peace. This lack of inclusion has continued despite the governor’s overt gestures of goodwill and cooperation.
READ ALSO: Defection: Eno tells unwilling officials to resign, vows not to relinquish Akwa Ibom PDP structure
“In contrast, Governor Eno has empowered citizens across party lines, ensured that appointments reflect the state’s diversity, and resisted the temptation to weaponise government against perceived opponents. That is commendable.
“But the current moves to exclude or sideline those who refuse to defect with him could erode that legacy of fairness and compromise,” Mr Essien stressed.
The Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, did not respond to calls and a text message seeking comments.
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