From Ismail Omipidan, Abuja
Akwa Ibom State, since 1999, has been a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) enclave. But one man attempted to change the tide in 2011: Senator John Akpanudoedehe. He was the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate. The battle was fierce, lives were lost. But in the end, with the support of the power at the centre at the time, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who was the governor at the time and was seeking re-election, had his way.
Today, Akpabio is in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), while Senator Akpanudoedehe, who was the APC National Secretary until 2022, is in the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), having joined the PDP at the outset of the current democratic dispensation in 1999 and became the senator that represented Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District at the start of the Fourth Republic.
However, what he failed to achieve 14 years ago, Governor Umo Eno, incumbent Akwa Ibom State Governor, achieved last week, though not through the ballot. The governor formally defected to the APC, after about a month of giving Nigerians notice that the PDP’s plane, which brought him in as the governor, was faulty, and since he would be seeking re-election, he needed to “abandon the faulty aircraft.”
Speaking at the Ukanafun/Oruk Anam Federal Constituency town square meeting held at QIC Central School, Ikot Akpankuk, Eno said, “What Akwa Ibom people want is good governance, not the name of the party.
“If you wanted to travel with Ibom Airline, and on the verge of taking off, it developed a fault that won’t enable it to fly, won’t you board the next available plane to take you to your destination? Whether Ibom Air or Air Peace, board the flight that is ready to take you to your destination. Board the flight and forget the name of the airline.”
Interestingly, the governor’s position followed the defection of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, who had moved to the APC along with his predecessor and their supporters.
But unlike the governor of Delta State, Akwa Ibom State Governor Eno could not convince his predecessor to “progressively” follow him to the APC, a development political analysts say could spell doom for the governor’s second term bid, especially if his predecessor could rally and mobilise those opposed to Akpabio and APC back to the PDP.
Already, Senator Akpanudoedehe, who was NNPP governorship candidate in 2023, is being speculated to want to return to the PDP. If that happens and he eventually teams up with the immediate past Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, in the PDP, then, Governor Uno would be walking a tightrope ahead of the 2027 governorship election, the reason he defected to the APC.
Last week, after his defection, three commissioners in Akwa Ibom State resigned their appointments as a sign that they were not available to move with him to the APC. Equally, out of 26 lawmakers in the state House of Assembly, 15 members did not defect, while 11 of the lawmakers were said to have “reluctantly” but “progressively” accompanied the governor to the APC.
One of the serving commissioners who resigned, Comrade Ini Ememobong, noted that his resignation was in compliance with the governor’s directive that his appointees who were not willing to join him on the political journey to APC should give way.
Ememobong further said, “Behold another bend. Today, I have tendered my resignation to the Governor in compliance with his directive that his appointees who are unwilling to join him on the political journey to the APC should resign. While I cannot question or fault the Governor’s personal decision, I am unable to join in that sojourn.
“My decision is borne out of my belief in politics with principles and my long-standing opposition to that political platform, which is daily validated by numerous Nigerians across many sectors.
“This decision does not affect my personal relationship with the Governor, who calls me his brother and reposed great confidence in me by saddling me with two very important ministries (Information and Special Duties & Ibom Deep Sea Port). I have and will continue to have tremendous respect for HE Governor Umo Eno, even out of exco.
“About my history in political and public service, I look back with great satisfaction at the work I have done and leave the ultimate judgment to history and posterity. Given another opportunity, I will do more.
“Let me convey the very sincere appreciation of my family to His Excellency, Pastor Umo Eno, for appointing me into his cabinet. Our very special appreciation goes to Mr. Udom Emmanuel, the immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom State, for his enduring love and belief in me, especially for appointing me into the Executive Council during his administration. I understand this decision may not please everyone, and to those who are disappointed, I humbly seek your understanding.
“As usual, I do not know the future, but I know He who holds the future and I trust that at the end, all things work together for good, to those who love the Lord and are the called unto His purpose.”
With this development, Governor Eno can be said to be in a precarious situation politically, and he must exercise a lot of extreme caution, with a view to balancing the situation so that his case would not end up like that of Alhaji Mahmud Shinkafi, former Zamfara State Governor.
Daily Sun recalls that, like Akwa Ibom, Zamfara people from 1999 were consistent in delivering their votes to the defunct ANPP. But after Shinkafi became governor in 2007, he defected in 2008 to the ruling PDP, leaving his predecessor behind in the ANPP. And by 2011, in spite of the fact that, in terms of performance, he did better than his predecessor, he was shown the red card, not even the PDP’s federal might at the time could save him.
Although Governor Uno, while delivering his defection speech, claimed that he would stabilise the APC in the state, analysts believed that the Senate president’s overbearing influence may make his dream stillborn, especially if the struggle for power between Akpabio and Akpanudoedehe is anything to go by.
History of Akpabio, Akpanudoedehe struggle for power in APC
Senator Akpanudoedehe was the face of the defunct ACN and, later, the APC in Akwa Ibom State for over decade. Before his defection from the PDP, he was the vice chairman of the campaign organisation for the re-election of Obong Victor Attah as the governor of Akwa Ibom State in 2003.
He later chaired Godswill Akpabio’s governorship campaign in 2007. After the election that brought in then President Umaru Yar’Adua, he was appointed the minister of state for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Although some party stakeholders tried to block his screening, his former membership of the Senate paved the way for him. But in 2008, when Akpabio could no longer guarantee his loyalty, he was sacked from his position.
And in 2010, he began moves to become the PDP candidate for the 2011 governorship contest, a move that received the blessing and endorsement of the former governor of the state, Obong Victor Attah, who disclosed at the time that the state had become a failed one under Akpabio’s administration. He eventually got the ACN’s ticket and contested the election but lost to the PDP.
In 2015, he lost the APC’s governorship ticket to Obong Umana Okon Umana in the primaries and after another defeat in the 2018 primaries, Akpanudoedehe was appointed as a board member of the Nigerian Ports Authority in March 2020, and it was from there he became the APC’s National Secretary, under a Caretaker-Committee arrangement. Before his resignation from the APC in June 2022, he was involved in a long political battle with Akpabio, who had crossed over to the APC, over the control of the party’s structure in the state.
A faction of the APC in the state that was loyal to Senator Akpanudoedehe was edged out of office in controversial circumstances by one Stephen Ntukekpo, who had forged the results of the APC Congress in Akwa Ibom to get a favourable court judgment at a Federal High Court, Abuja. Dissatisfied with the decision of the court, Senator Akpanudoedehe went to the Court of Appeal, Abuja, to challenge the judgment of the lower court. But he was said to have been frustrated by the support those involved in the forgery game were getting for Senator Akpabio and the national leadership of APC at the time. While all that was on, the Senator Akpabio faction of the party outmanoeuvred the Senator Akpanudoedehe group to get one Akanimo Udofia, a man who only joined the APC in less than a month, elected as the 2023 governorship candidate of the party in Akwa Ibom, a primary that was never monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This development, prompted INEC not to recognise the candidate.
Once Senator Akpanudoedehe was convinced he was not likely to get justice, he parted ways with the APC, saying the decision was a “tough one.”
He was, however, quick to add that, “Leadership entails adherence to the wishes of the vast majority of associates, allies and supporters who have shown fidelity over time and have now witnessed the obduracy the APC is handling the candidate selection processes in Akwa Ibom State. Our greater goal of providing service to the people of our dear state remains sacrosanct.
“I will contest the 2023 governorship election in Akwa Ibom State. I am going to the New Nigeria Peoples Party.”
PDP and its future
After the defection of the Delta State Governor, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP held an emergency meeting. Afterwards, Umar Damagun, acting national chairman of the party, said the party’s national legal adviser had been directed to take action over the defection of the Delta State Governor and other members of the party to the APC. What will it do in the case of Akwa Ibom State? It seems only time will tell.
Efforts to get the reactions of Senator Akpanudoedehe and former Governor Udom Emmanuel as at press time proved abortive. But one thing is clear, the days ahead would be interesting, politically for the government and people of Akwa Ibom State.