…Vows to consolidate tourism, infrastructure drive in second term
Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State on Saturday declared that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has placed Nigeria on the path of recovery and stability, insisting that there is “Light at the end of the tunnel” despite current economic challenges.
Governor Eno spoke in Abuja shortly after undergoing screening by the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
Describing the screening exercise as smooth and productive, the governor said the process further strengthened the relationship between APC governors and the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
“Perfect, and I think it’s a normal procedure. I’m satisfied. Again, I thank the National Working Committee, the chairman and all members of the National Working Committee.
“It brings synergy between the sitting governors and the National Working Committee. It shows growth. No sitting governor is in sync with the National Working Committee,” he said.
According to him, the interaction with party leaders reflected unity and cohesion within the APC family.
“This exercise consolidates that. It makes you meet all of them, and it shows there is a flow between us as progressives. So, I’m satisfied,” he added.
Speaking on the performance of the Tinubu administration, Eno said governors across the country were complementing the efforts of the President through developmental initiatives at the sub-national level.
“In the nation, you’ve seen the work that the President is doing, and we are all part of it. We’re working from our various states. Of course, it builds up from the sub-national to the national.
“There is no progressive governor today that you cannot verify on the ground what we are doing. And then at the national level, the President has given us as governors lots of support,” he stated.
The governor admitted that Nigerians were still facing economic difficulties but maintained that the situation had improved compared to what the administration inherited.
“Things are difficult, we must admit, but we also must admit that it’s improving from where this President took over. There is a pathway.
“You can see stabilisation of the dollar. Apart from the Iran-American war that is now also affecting some of the achievements, which is not only Nigeria anyway, you can truly say there is progress,” he said.
Eno expressed confidence that Nigerians would support Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027 to enable him to consolidate on ongoing reforms and development programmes.
“I feel Nigerians know that this President needs to come back to consolidate on the work that he has started,” he added.
On his own second-term ambition in Akwa Ibom State, the governor said his administration would focus on consolidating projects already initiated under his ARISE Agenda.
“Second term, God willing, we need to tidy up all the work we’ve done. We are running under the ARISE Agenda, so we are now moving to ARISE Agenda 2.0.
“We’ll be finishing up some of the work we’ve done and positioning our state properly for tourism, which is an alternative to oil,” he stated.
The governor said his administration would also deepen investments in medical tourism, agriculture, infrastructure and internally generated revenue to place the state on a stronger economic footing.
“We need to consolidate, improve our internally generated revenue and continue to put our people on the path of growth and success,” he said.
