President Bola Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, APC governors; National Chairman and other bigwigs are expected in Uyo on Saturday, June 21, to formally receive Gov. Umo Eno into their party, two weeks after he announced his defection from PDP. The grand rally will hold at the iconic football stadium named after the senate president. As in other instances, Vice President may lead the delegation from Abuja. The switch of parties has weakened PDP, stirred debates, attracted criticisms and excitements. Eno’s genial personality and proclivity to build harmony and inclusivity across partisan divides has endeared him to his people. This essay examines the key issues that have dominated discussions since the governor Eno joined the APC. Did he compel others to move with him?; why did former governor Udom Emmanuel not decamp and how will APC manage the various tendencies within the party?

A few days after the defection, elder statesman and former minister, Chief Nduese Essien issued a statement alleging that the governor had ‘’coerced’’ members of the State and National Assembly, as well as Chairpersons of LGAs to decamp with him. A PDP chieftain himself, Chief Essien said that although he had attended the event at Government House on June 6 when the governor announced his departure from the party, he did so only out of his support and loyalty to the governor. He maintained that he is still a PDP member and as an octogenarian, he’s retired from partisan activities.

I have spoken to the two PDP senators who decamped with the governor and they insist that they were not coerced. ‘’No, the governor did not coerce me or anyone that I know. I joined him out of my own volition because I understand the underlying issues’’, said Senator Aniekan Bassey of Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial district. Senator Ekong Sampson of Akwa Ibom South senatorial district put it more elegantly, ‘’political alignment and realignment are personal decisions. The question of compulsion does not arise’’. Besides, governors have enormous influence and few can resist overtures from them. They are the major funders of their political parties and their candidates; they have the leverage, authority, money and the capacity to influence the outcomes of elections. A governor makes many appointments and recommends some to the President for appointment. A governor gives contracts, dispenses gifts; favours, empowerments; etc. These are the soft powers that attract followers to wherever the governor goes. He doesn’t need to employ coercion to compel PDP members. They followed him because they just did not want to become the new face of opposition in Akwa Ibom.

The movement of Eno and his large entourage into APC has prompted a new wave of jostling for leadership positions within the party. Victor Antai, executive director at NDDC, was crowned the leader of the party in his senatorial district a few days after the governor defected, with many wondering how he could claim such a position in a zone where there are titans like Nsima Ekere, former deputy governor and former MD of NDDC and Ekong Sampson, senator representing the district. Antai was APC’s deputy governorship candidate in 2023 and there are speculations that he wants to pair with the governor in 2027. There are similar tussling for positions in some wards and local government areas, igniting discussions about the capacity of the party to manage its success. Will the party implode under its new heavy weight or its suspension has been retrofitted to absorb the excess load?

The absence of former governor Udom Emmanuel from the political scene in the state has also been a major talking point. Many had thought that the ex banker would move into APC with his successor, just like Ifeanyi Okowa moved with Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori in Delta. But the circumstances are different. After the 2023 elections, Udom Emmanuel quietly retired from partisan politics and resumed his business interests in Lagos. In December, he told supporters that he’s not interested in going to the senate in 2027, fending off sustained entreaties to run. His withdrawal from active political activities therefore does not offer any compelling need for him to join APC, unlike Eno who would be seeking reelection and has chosen APC as a viable platform. The separation has, however, not soured the relationships between the two. Said Senator Sampson: ‘’The governor has very high regards for his predecessor and he says so publicly. I don’t think the defection will affect their relationships’’. On the other hand, Okowa wants to go back to the Senate in 2027, and he’s preparing to will battle for the ticket with Senator Ned Nwoko who defected to the APC in February.

The defection rally on Saturday will be a culmination of series of activities that heralded the governor’s defection. With the governor now settled in his new party, internal realignment will begin as attention shifts back to the people’s business.