•Governor Umo Eno
It may be heartbreaking for many Akwa Ibom people to contemplate the prospect of joining and voting for any other political party except the PDP. The PDP is in the DNA of Akwa Ibom voters. One of the reasons is that all the gigantic and nationally acclaimed development strides of the State since the return of democratic rule in 1999 have been accomplished by the hands of PDP governments. The sentiments of the people for the PDP is therefore very understandable. PDP has done the state proud.
Whenever politicians in Akwa Ibom boast that PDP is a religion in the state, the meaning is that Akwa Ibom people are committed and devoted to the PDP as they are to their churches. As a matter of fact, some Akwa Ibom people are more committed to PDP than to their churches.
The implication is that just as it is difficult to move Akwa Ibom people en masse from their churches to another church, so it is to change Akwa Ibom minds from their abiding love and loyalty to the PDP. It is organic.
But that’s just one side of the story. The other side of the story is in two parts. First, the love of Akwa Ibom people for their governor, Pastor Umo Eno, who is just two years old in office is exceptional, unprecedented and perhaps extreme. There is an outpouring of love for this governor across party lines and a groundswell of goodwill for him across the length and breath of the state. It is second to none in the 38 years history of this oil and gas-rich state on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
This is not just because of his down-to-earth and grassrooted style of leadership, but more so because of his deep sense of fairness in allocating State resources and doing justice to every section of the state, devoid of discrimination. Everywhere he went in the two years as governor, he was doing good. He connected deeply with the high and the low in the land, and secured a place squarely in the hearts of the overwhelming majority of the people.
Second, Governor Eno is championing so many multi-billion dollar legacy projects, most of them inherited from previous Administrations, which is showcasing him more as a veritable statesman than a Nigerian politician.
Some of those major projects which include the Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overall, MRO, the first in West Africa, and the Ibom Deep Seaport, are loaded with impactful economic consequences that go beyond Akwa Ibom and Nigeria, to the West African sub-Region and the Gulf of Guinea economic zone.
These are real strategic investments for the country in a strategic state on the shores of Atlantic Oceans, that is manned by a serious-minded governor who has commanded the respect of leaders across the political divide and which the federal government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, cannot ignore.
So just like the PDP, the love for Governor Eno in Akwa Ibom State and beyond is organic, extensive and catholic. There is nothing anybody can do about that, except, perhaps envy his style and track record of accomplishment.
He has in a very short span of two years won the hearts of the people, for his empathy, compassion and identification with the plight of the less privileged. His trait as a humble and humane leader is not because he is a pastor and has some godly influence over him. It is because that’s who he is: a good and caring man, a sincere servant of his people, a great leader, firm and fair in his dealings. For that, he is adored, even by his political opponents, if any, these days.
But there is a twist in the tale. Governor Eno, the pride of PDP has joined the APC, the ruling party at the centre, to align forces with the federal government, and strengthen his hands in the face of the legacy projects he is driving. It is even more compelling for him to join the APC now because the ill health of the PDP is open secret.
What then shall separate Akwa Ibom from the love of the PDP? Shall Umo Eno? Wither the love of Akwa Ibom people now? This is the political crossroad and a dilemma that Akwa Ibom people have found themselves in at this point in time. It is the talk of the town, in beer parlours, market squares, University campuses and even churches. Where goes the love of Akwa Ibom people in times like this? To the PDP or to Governor Umo Eno or to both?
To be sure, Governor Umo Eno himself is not different from most Akwa Ibom people. He is a passionate lover of PDP. He speaks with deep affection and respect about the party and former Governor Udom Emmanuel, who afforded this affable, rural pastor the opportunity to become a governor in the midst of redoubtable political stalwarts. But there is a spanner in the works or as the Americans would say it “a wrench”. There is a problem.
Right now, the PDP that Akwa Ibom people love so much is virtually in comatose at the National level; afflicted on every side and almost crushed; perplexed and almost driven to despair; hunted down and almost abandoned.
Everyday you turn on the TV, there is news of the PDP heavyweights, governors, senators and other National Assembly members, trooping out from the PDP to the APC. It was the legendary Chinua Achebe who wrote that “whenever you see a toad jumping in the broad daylight, then know that something is after its life”.
It would appear to many observers that something is after the life of the PDP. There are forces, external and internal, centrifugal and centripetal, hunting down and determined to see the total eclipse of the PDP ahead of the 2027 elections. If you were a politician and a prospective second term governorship candidate in the shoes of Governor Umo Eno, what would you do?
Many members of the PDP are doing something about it. Some are now scampering and exiting the party in droves in the hope of forming another party. But the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said two weeks ago, it was not in the mood to register new parties.
One of the affected groups gunning for registration as a new party is the National Opposition Coalition Group, that is planning to challenge the APC, the ruling party, in the 2027 elections. The Coalition was seeking to be registered and known as All Democratic Alliance, ADA. But INEC, for now, seemed to have pulled the rug from under their feet.
When a house is totally on fire, the most important action is to prioritise safety and get yourself and family out of the building as quickly as possible. In plain language, as at today, the PDP as a vehicle for contesting the 2027 election is, at best, risky and perhaps broken down.
The uncertainties in the party right now are too many to be ignored. The great PDP that ruled Nigeria from 1999-2015 is today factionalised, fractionalised and saddled with three National Secretaries, namely, Samuel Anyanwu, Udeh Okoye and Setonji Koshoedo, appointed as the Acting National Secretary, three weeks ago in the midst of a seemingly stubborn and intractable party crisis. Which of these three National Secretaries will sign the nomination forms of Governor Eno for a well-deserved second term? Which of the three National Secretaries, if any, will eventually be backed up by the party, legal technicalities and the almighty courts, if the case returns to the court ?
Cases abound in Plateau and Zamfara states in the recent past where landslide election winners later became losers in the courts and were replaced by those who barely garnered a handful of votes in distant second positions. What happened in Zamfara and Plateau is the fig tree that a foresighted leader like Governor Eno must learn from. No politician wants to go through such a catastrophic ordeal of being thrown out of office on technical grounds after winning a hard fought election.
And then there is the issue of Congresses of the parties, which are willy-nilly coming up in August this year, and particularly the implications of the Congresses for the 2027 elections.
Against this kind of backdrop, Governor Eno is wise, proactive and right to lead his ardent supporters to join the APC. This is good thinking.
Before he relocated to the APC a week ago, the Governor took time to explain and justify his decision to his teeming PDP loyalists. Sometimes, he did it with parables and analogies. At other times, he spoke in clear terms to people in his inner circles about the departure to APC.
On Sunday, June 1, 2025, during the Covenant Service in the State House, usually held on the first day of every month and attended by elites in the State, the governor waxed Biblical as he made one of his last ditch attempts to persuade the State to follow him to the APC.
Instead of his standard remarks at the end of the Covenant Service, that usually pointed to the activities and policy direction of the government, the Governor simply mounted the pulpit and gave out four Bible portions to be read at home by the elites. The Bible portions were: Romans 8:31-37, 2 Samuel 15, Psalm 34:19 and Numbers 10:29-32.
Here is what Numbers 10:29-32 says: “One day Moses said to his brother-in-law, Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, “We are on our way to the place the LORD promised us, for he said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised wonderful blessings for Israel!” [30] But Hobab replied, “No, I will not go. I must return to my own land and family.” [31] “Please don’t leave us,” Moses pleaded. “You know the places in the wilderness where we should camp. Come, be our guide. [32] If you do, we’ll share with you all the blessings the LORD gives us.”
Many have read the Bible portions between the lines and have decided to follow him. As President Tinubu visits Akwa Ibom on Saturday, June 21, 2025, to formally welcome Governor Eno into the APC, there will be no doubt that Akwa Ibom people love and trust the thinking and leadership of their governor.
*Anietie Usen is a multiple award winning journalist and author.
