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Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has officially dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC), setting off political fireworks within the state’s grassroots structures.
The defection, which took place on Friday in Uyo, the state capital, saw APC bigwigs, including the Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, welcome Eno with fanfare. But the celebration wasn’t unanimous.
During his declaration, Governor Eno insisted he was not jumping ship out of desperation but from a place of confidence and strategy.
READ ALSO: Commissioners, lawmakers, LG chairs move with Gov Eno as Akwa Ibom becomes APC
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“We’re not joining the APC from a position of weakness, but from a position of strength. We’re bringing value to Akwa Ibom. We’ve come into the APC with a ministry of reconciliation,” he told the crowd.
A disgruntled Camp
However, not everyone in Governor Umor Eno is impressed. A faction of elected local government councilors has openly rejected his move, accusing the governor of ignoring them in the build-up to his switch. Their complaint? He consulted with top lawmakers, commissioners, and party elders, but left them in the dark.
“We were not consulted. The governor spoke with National and State Assembly members, local government chairmen, even commissioners. But he ignored us, the councilors, who actually deliver the votes at the grassroots,” a councilor said anonymously.
Many of the councilors say they feel humiliated by the exclusion, especially since they are elected representatives with political clout in their wards. Some are even eyeing second terms under PDP zoning arrangements and fear their ambitions could be derailed by an abrupt switch to APC.
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“What are we supposed to tell our people? How do we explain this defection when we weren’t carried along?” the councilor added.
Reacting to the uproar, a serving commissioner, who spoke off the record, dismissed the councilors’ concerns, saying their defection isn’t mandatory and that many didn’t even win elections on their own steam.
“The governor doesn’t owe them an explanation. He has consulted the real stakeholders.”
While the governor may have made his move, the fallout has only just begun, and with local elections looming, the PDP-APC tug of war in Akwa Ibom is far from over.
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