Akwa Ibom: Eno, Akpabio and Politics of 2027

Etim Etim writes that there are clandestine moves by certain individuals to cause disaffection between Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State and President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio ahead of the 2027 general election.

The 2027 political season is arriving a bit too early in Akwa Ibom State, and as usual, the starting point is mudslinging and salacious political publications targeting at the incumbent governor and his predecessor. This week, an NGO, Network Against Corruption and Trafficking (NACAT) filed a petition at the EFCC and ICPC alleging that there was ‘’wanton corruption and embezzlement of public funds orchestrated by former governor Udom Emmanuel’’.

The petition is dated January 21, 2025 and signed by its operational manager, Stanley Ugabe. A week before the petition was delivered to the anti-graft agencies; a group known as Concerned Members of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State, wrote an open letter to President Bola Tinubu in a national newspaper of Monday, January 13, 2025, in the form of an advertorial in which it made a number of spurious allegations against Governor Umo Eno; Udom Emmanuel and Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister of Petroleum (Gas).

The open letter alleged that the three leaders are scheming to support a PDP presidential candidate of Northern origin in 2027 and that their ultimate goal is to frustrate the re-election of President Tinubu.

The letter is copied to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; APC National Chairman, Abdullai Ganduje and NSA, Nuhu Ribadu. There are 10 signatories on the letter, representing the 10 federal constituencies in the state, but in actual fact, the names are all fictitious. I have been a prominent member of APC in Akwa Ibom State since November, 2014 and participated in three governorship elections since 2015 as a communication strategist. I am in a position to know at least one of 10 persons who can buy a newspaper page for N1.2 million to place an open letter to the President. Those names do not just exist. I have been well informed from within the APC that the sponsors of the advertorial are the same as the brains behind the petition against Udom Emmanuel.

Their objectives are to embarrass the former governor who is a PDP leader and the political godfather of Eno; make the governor look bad before the President and create problems for the governor and his re-election bid. The last paragraph of the advertorial says it all: ‘’Given your extensive experience in presidential politics, we trust that you won’t fall prey to Governor Umo Eno’s deception. It’s time to activate plans to win Akwa Ibom State and secure your reelection’’. There is no single mention of the Senate President, who is the leader of APC in the South-South region, in the letter apart from indicating that he was in copy. That’s quite telling!

I have spoken to a lot of people within the APC in the state and I have discovered that the advertorial was sponsored by people with two major agenda: One, they are uncomfortable with the cordiality between the Senate President and the governor which was deliberately built by the governor, contrary to traditions. They are enraged by the simmering rumours within the APC that the governor might defect to the party, and that would upstage the existing political arrangement/structure in the APC.

The second agenda is to stop the governor from going for second term. They do not necessarily believe that he would defect; but they want Akpabio to cut all ties with him and launch a political assault to weaken him and set the stage for APC to take over the state. The thinking within this group is that if Akpabio does not deliver the governorship seat to APC, his chance of being re-elected Senate President would be slimmer. Akpabio is the only Senate President since 1999 to come from a state governed by an opposition party. Some party members believe that this is a major minus for him as far as 2027 is concerened, especially with Senator Oshiomhole poised to challenge him for the position.

The inclusion of Ekperikpe Ekpo in the publication is befuddling to many, especially those outside Akwa Ibom State. He is from the same senatorial district with Akpabio and was an Akpabio acolyte until the Senate President nominated him for the ministerial position and convinced President Tinubu to approve the appointment in spite of the need to spread appointments to other zones.

But in recent months, there’ve been speculations of a frosty relationship developing between the Senate President and the Minister due to the latter’s perceived interest in gubernatorial politics. The Minister has reacted sharply to the advertorial, stating that he is not building any alliance with anybody to sabotage Tinubu’s re-election as alleged in the publication.

Rather, he expressed his unalloyed loyalty to the President. Governor Eno has also denied allegations of working against the President’s interest. The governor’s press secretary, Ekerete Udo wrote in a statement: ‘’The undisguised intent of the purveyors of the inane advertorial was to cause a strain in the widely acknowledged warm relationship the governor enjoys with President Tinubu; the Senate President and the Minister…the governor has not formed any such clandestine alliance as the group falsely and maliciously stated’’.

As for the petition to the EFCC and ICPC, neither  Emmanuel himself nor the governor has made any public statement. But, if history is our guide, I can tell how far this may go. In 2016, some persons, led by a lawyer who is now late, wrote a similar petition against Akpabio, alleging his misuse of security votes just as the accusation against Emmanuel. It was Akpabio’s successor (Udom Emmanuel) who rose to defend Akpabio to the extent of filing a court case against the EFCC. The court ruled against the EFCC, barring it from investigating Akpabio’s tenure. Eight years later, Emmanuel is a victim of a similar petition. How do you think his successor, Pastor Umo Eno, would manage the situation? History often repeats itself rather strangely in Akwa Ibom politics.

The tumult of 2027 is around the corner. I can only hope that the governor will brush this aside and concentrate on his agenda to the people.

Related Articles