Governor Umo Eno’s aides’ involvement in the recent airport reception for his predecessor, Udom Emmanuel, at Akwa Ibom State has continued to stir controversy.
Mr Emmanuel was in the state in early September for his cousin’s burial.
In an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, 23 September, Otobasi Udo, the APC spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, said the APC members who took part in the airport reception were “inconsequential”.
Akwa Ibom celebrated the 38th anniversary of the state’s creation on Tuesday.
In a statewide broadcast to mark the anniversary, Governor Eno paid tribute to the state’s founding fathers and his predecessors, including Mr Emmanuel.
“Let me end this broadcast by again appealing to you, my dear people, to remain united, peaceful, and hopeful.
“As the political season unfolds, I urge us not to allow the flaming passion of politics to divide us. Elections will come and go, but the Akwa Ibom spirit of love and brotherhood will remain. We are running Akwa Ibom United across party lines,” Mr Eno said.
In the broadcast, the governor reiterated his support for President Bola Tinubu’s bid for re-election in 2027.
Mr Eno, who contested and won the 2023 Akwa Ibom governorship election under the PDP, defected to Mr Tinubu’s party, the APC, in June 2025. He cited his desire to support the president’s re-election bid and connect Akwa Ibom to the centre as the reason for his defection.
Until Mr Eno’s defection, the PDP had governed the oil-rich state for 26 years, since the restoration of democratic rule in Nigeria in 1999.
The defection is causing confusion and suspicion as his predecessor, Mr Emmanuel, and some other politicians in the state have refused to defect to the APC.
Political blackmail now thrives in Akwa Ibom, with politicians accusing one another of not being “fully loyal” to Governor Eno.
‘Cautious celebration’
On the Akwa Ibom anniversary day, the APC spokesperson in the state, Mr Udo, a lawyer, published a statement on a WhatsApp platform, celebrating successive leaders of the state, including Mr Emmanuel, for their contribution to the state’s development.
The Chairperson of the APC in the state, Stephen Ntukekpo, was more generous in his praise for the former governor, Mr Emmanuel, who he said “steered the state with prudent industrialisation and economic diversification”.
“His efforts in attracting industries, expanding aviation with Ibom Air, and consolidating peace and security marked a new era of progress for Akwa Ibom State,” Mr Ntukekpo said.
PREMIUM TIMES pointed to the APC spokesperson, Mr Udo, that the party’s statement on the state anniversary praised Mr Emmanuel, while some aides of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, vilified Governor Eno’s aides who received the former governor at the Uyo airport.
“I am not going to choose today to say this one is bad or this one is good; everyone who had the opportunity to rule this state, we (as a people and a state) were moved forward to where we are today through their contributions,” Mr Udo responded, cautiously.
Our reporter asked him where the APC places Mr Emmanuel in the context of “Akwa Ibom United across party lines” as advocated by Governor Eno.
“He (Emmanuel) is not a member of our party; our party places him as a former governor of the state,” he responded.
Our reporter asked him if it was okay for APC members to receive Mr Emmanuel at the airport.
“Was Governor Umo Eno or the APC chairman in the state there? These are the principal members of the party in the state.
“I want to believe that those who were there, as far as the party is concerned, were inconsequential,” he responded.
Attacks on Gov Eno’s aides
Ata Ikiddeh, a close ally of Mr Akpabio, has twice attacked Mr Eno’s aides who received Mr Emmanuel at the airport, questioning their loyalty to the governor.
Earlier this month, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Ikiddeh and Anietie Ekong, a media aide to Mr Akpabio, called for sanctions against the officials who publicly welcomed Mr Emmanuel.
“What I found most disturbing and concerning are the appointees of Governor Eno who trooped out to welcome their former boss and rubbed it in our faces where their allegiance and loyalty stand. They stumbled over themselves to take selfies with the former governor and, without qualms, splashed (the photographs) in our faces on social media; their bodies may be with Governor Eno, but their hearts are with Mr Emmanuel,” Mr Ekong wrote on Facebook about Mr Emmanuel’s visit, calling out the appointees of Governor Eno to “state whom they shall serve: their present boss or the former boss.”
Governor Eno confirmed to an online newspaper, Policy and Politics, that he had read the piece by Mr Akpabio’s aide, but said he would not fight his predecessor.
“For me, those to watch out for are not those who pay respect to our leaders in the open. It is those who sneak surreptitiously to tell lies and plant evil seeds and yet come to smile with you,” the newspaper quoted Mr Eno as saying.
Meanwhile, none of the former civilian governors of Akwa Ibom—Messrs Akpabio, Emmanuel, and Victor Attah—attended the traditional inter-denominational church service and the banquet organised by Mr Eno’s administration to mark the state’s 38th anniversary.
It is unclear why all the former governors stayed away from the events.
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‘Stylish insults’
PREMIUM TIMES spoke last week with an aide to Mr Eno, who requested that his name not be disclosed in the report because he was not authorised to speak on the fallout of the former governor’s visit to Akwa Ibom.
The aide said the calls for Mr Eno to sack them for receiving Mr Emmanuel at the airport are “stylish insults” to the governor, especially since the governor has dismissed the reported rift with his predecessor.
“We are beginning to question the devotion, loyalty, and allegiance of elements like Anietie Ekong and Ata Ikiddeh to the leadership of Pastor Umo Eno, who is the sole leader of our Party – the APC in the entire Akwa Ibom State.
“As the leader of the APC, Governor Umo Eno wields enormous powers and is deserving of all amounts of loyalty from aborigines and even new members of our party.
“The stylish insults must end forthwith!” he said.
The aide said he was speaking the minds of other aides, including commissioners, who he said are not happy with the torrential attacks from Mr Akpabio’s aide and allies.
He said the attacks on them are a sign of desperation from people with “wanton thirst for appointment and scheming for dislodgment of others”.
“We must remind them that our boss, the governor, is a tested clergy who believes that those who worked in the farm when others like Anietie Ekong and Ata Ikiddeh fought to stop the planting season must eat the fruits from the farm to their fill.
“We strongly warn the duo against further insults on us and the indiscriminate effort to paint all appointees of Governor Eno as disloyal people.”
