Aniekan Umanah is the Commissioner for Information in Akwa Ibom State. In this interview, he speaks on the defection of Governor Umo Eno from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the benefits of aligning with the government at the centre, among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU writes
The defection of Governor Eno is very challenging for the people of Akwa Ibom because of the division between him and his predecessor, Emmanuel Udom. How divisive is this move?
I want to start by saying that Akwa Ibom State is not divided. Akwa Ibom State is still running in a wholesome movement behind Governor Eno as it were today and I’m saying this from a standpoint of knowledge and strength as a participant observer in what has happened. Now, what are the points to look at?
First, is it within the constitutional rights of the governor to decide which political party or political association or movement to belong to? The answer is yes. Section 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, guarantees him and anyone else such rights.
So, he has exercised those rights in accordance with the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Number two; what are the conditions preceding any action, like you saw, culminating in a movement from one political party to the other? You and I know that the PDP that saw the governor to office as of today can no more be said to be what it was at that time. So, the conditions have changed because the party at the national level is having a big trouble.
No one can really place what is happening. And then the governor is at the driver’s seat. He understands the road map, and he knows where he’s going with his people. And he is walking the direction that will keep the state safe on the political sale.
Three, did he make this decision just by himself or unto himself ? The answer is no, because he spent time consulting the various strata of Akwa Ibom society. And that’s why you saw in that the state House of Assembly in totality came out where the speaker spoke on their behalf, declaring their support and moving with the governor to the APC.
The National Assembly caucus also came out. Senator Ekong Sampson spoke on their behalf and they all declared support and moved with the governor. The local government chairmen equally marched out and declared their support and moved with the governor.
Members of the State Executive Council led by the Secretary to Government, declared their support too. Yes, one person said he was moving. He has the right to his decision to say that he was resigning his membership of the PDP because he doesn’t want to. That is one out of 28, and of course, it is his personal decision.
But we hear that there’s tension between cabinet members because some of them are loyal to former Governor Emmanuel…
There is absolutely no tension. If there’s tension, what stops one from resigning if you are not interested in a particular administration? You’re not talking about members of the state Assembly. You’re not talking about elected officials.
You’re talking about appointees. who are people the governor invited to come and work with him. As an appointee, you must work the way he wants you to work, or you can go and contest election. It’s a free world. At the time I was in the cabinet, I also went and contested election.
I went to the National Assembly, and so on. Of course, at that time, I was not under anybody’s direct leadership that I could say, oh, this is my immediate boss. So, the governor was clear. He said If you are working with me, you work with me. He may decide to keep an opposition member or decide not to.
But it’s within his right. He alone can make that decision. Another point I’m going to make is that the people of Akwa Ibom State are there in support of the governor as he moves.
The Akwa Ibom electorate the governor is taking care of in discharge of his mandate are very excited. Is it the retired workers that he has paid N78 billion out of N92 billion of unpaid gratuities and pensions that will not support him? It’s not possible.
The driver of the state, who is the governor, in this instance, understands where he is going. He also understands the reason why he is moving closer to national conversation
Is it the SMEs that he’s dishing out N5 million to support? Is it the farmers, who are benefiting from farmers grants or traders? Is it the schoolchildren, who are still enjoying free education or civil servant who are enjoying the minimum wage that is higher than even the Federal Government benchmark of N70,000? Are the people, who would be unhappy with him? That is not the case.
If all of the 368 ward PAs, councillors, local government chairmen, House of Assembly, and all of the elders of the state are together with the governor, and they made the declaration in public, I don’t know who is left in the political process that would say it will constitute the majority that can really stand against that move.
A lot of people say the governor has actually done well, including the opposition APC that he has now moved to. People are now wondering if he did all of these on the platform of the PDP, what was the problem that made him to switch to the opposition in the state?
Let me say here that Governor Eno has very deep respect for the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel. He also has deep respect for the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
He has deep respect for ex-Governor Victor Attah. These are people he had from the day he became governor, has been reaching out to, consulting, working with and trying to see how he can bring the state together.
And he did say in his inaugural address that one of his greatest missions would be to unite the state and bring every leader and every element together. He has been very deliberate about this. I had the privilege of serving under these governors, and I know them personally.
I also know that they all performed in their rights as governors of Akwa Ibom State. But the issue of political party membership and affiliation in the current situation in Nigeria, particularly in the PDP that we were in, you know as I know that today we cannot say who is the national secretary of the party. Everyone is weary of that crisis.
We cannot, in the situation one day, turn ourselves into a situation of Zamfara State. You even saw what happened in Plateau State. So, you cannot lead your people to an unknown route.
Akwa Ibom State has benefited tremendously from PDP since 1999, why is Governor Eno not patient enough to wait for the party to resolve its crisis?
There is nobody that is or was in the APC that was not in the PDP in Akwa Ibom State. I’m going to make that very clear to you. There is nothing really different from the people.
It’s just a vehicle. Even as we had that movement, you are still commuting with the same people, who were in the same political party. And I must be quick to say that political parties remain vehicles.
So, the driver of the state, who is the governor, in this instance, understands where he is going. He also understands the reason why he is moving closer to national conversation.
And he has not spared his words, even in declaring his support for President Bola Tinubu. He made it very clear that he will support President Tinubu and that he will also support Senator Akpabio, of course, as a Senate president, to return to the Nigerian Senate and continue to provide leadership.
Is there a switch of godfathers in the state?
It is not about switch of godfathers. The matter is that the number three position is a big position in the country for any state to also recognise and appreciate. Nobody would wish that away. You wish that away at your peril.
When people said the governor was dining with the APC at night and continuing with the PDP by day, he denied it initially until he had to accept it…
He wasn’t dining at night. He was clear about what he was doing. He didn’t hide his words. He made it public that he is in support of the President. And of course, he also declared his support for the Senate president. He never hid his words.
He told Akwa Ibom people that these are positions you don’t joke with. He has found it and we have to recognise and support this position. And how do you support it? You support it from the line that flows.
Is there a return of Akpabio’s boys to the Akwa Ibom government house?
Like I said to you, we follow the governor. There’s very deep respect for the leaders of Akwa Ibom State. Anybody who has had the privilege and opportunity by the grace of God and through the votes of the people of Akwa Ibom State to serve as governor deserves the respect of Akwa Ibom people and the current governor has shown that pattern.
It behoves on all of us, the followers and all of those working with him to also extend that level of respect and courtesies. So, the question of godfather or no godfather doesn’t come in here, it is about leadership.
Someone is the governor of the state and he has the full compliments and courtesies and authorities of the government of Akwa Ibom State to lead the state in a manner and pattern that he deems fit and with the support and contribution of the people.
