The defection of Gov. Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State from PDP to APC on Friday was not a surprise, after all. I first got wind wind of the plan since last year, and since then, I have written two articles on it. The last, entitled ‘’2027: Will Gov. Eno defect to APC?’’ was published in March. Gov. Eno has taken his time to consult, convince various interest groups and build a consensus among PDP members and political associates for many months before he finally took the decision to move. He wanted to ensure that he moved with as many PDP members as possible. The discussions and persuasions paid off as the governor went into the APC with critical stakeholders: the two PDP senators; all members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly; all the 31 LGA chairpersons and all but one commissioner. Overall, hundreds of PDP stalwarts, some holding political positions and others who have held various senior political offices, also moved with the governor, creating an unparalleled political change whose impacts would be felt beyond the state.

But the Commissioner for Special Duties and Deep Sea Port, Ini Emeobong refused to defect with the governor and thus resigned from the cabinet, citing ‘’personal conviction’’. Ememobong has served the government right from the administration of Godswill Akpabio as Special Assistant. He was one of Akpabio’s beloved aides who was promoted Commissioner by Gov. Udom Emmanuel after he succeeded Akpabio in 2015. But when Akpabio defected from PDP to APC in 2018, Ememobong became very hostile to Akpabio. Gov. Emmanuel deployed him to Ministry of Information from which he launched series of verbal assaults and insults against Akpabio. During the 2019 elections, Ememobong took matters in a very personal manner, moving from one media house to another to attack Akpabio in the most visceral manner. His decision not to join the APC is therefore meant to save him from the possibility of having anything to do with AKpabio again. Lesson: political disagreement should not turn into personal enmity.

But there are more significant implications of the governor’s movement. In terms of 2027, both the Senate President and the governor would be returned unopposed for second term. The PDP, hitherto the strongest political platform in the state, is now too enfeebled to offer any formidable electoral challenge to them. By joining the APC, Umo Eno has also escaped the trap inherent in the intractable leadership crisis in his former party. The leadership tussle had the potential to cause legal problems for him in 2027. APC members are also excited at the change of their political fortunes and the expectations that Gov. Eno’s entry into the party would redress the deprivation they had suffered over the years. The party has been under the grip and control of Senator AKpabio since Bola Tinubu became President. He alone decided who got a political appointment from the federal government, and the beneficiaries were mostly his close acolytes from his senatorial district.

Persons like Obong Umana Umana (former minister of Niger Delta Affairs); Atuekong Don Etiebet (former Minister of Petroleum); Obong Nsima Ekere(former Managing Director of NDDC) who joined the party long before AKpabio were all sidelined within the party. Other members who had political appointments under President Buhari were even denied reappointment by Tinubu because the Senate President had come up with his preferred nominees. Eno is coming into a party that is made up of two camps: one being a small group of contented and favoured members led by Akpabio and the other, a larger segment, made up of discontented and dejected members, who felt sidelined by leadership style of the Senate President. The dejected ones are now excited that Gov. Eno would recognize and reward them for their sacrifice and contributions all these years.

‘’The coming of the governor into our party is good for the state and provides hope for a new beginning’’, said former minister Umana to me soon after the Eno’s defection. ‘’We as members will have to work with the governor and help him to bring reconciliation, harmony and cohesion to the party’’, he added. Umana himself had defected from PDP when he served as Secretary to the State Government under Gov. Akpabio to APC in November 2014 because he was denied the governorship nomination. His defection rally was a big event in Uyo attended by Bola Tinubu (then APC National Leader); Atiku Abubarkar (presidential aspirant); John Odigie-Oyegun (then APC National Chairman) and other top party henchmen. I joined the party that day too – my first, and so far, only membership of any political party. The core and bulk of members of APC in Akwa Ibom are those who joined with Umana in 2014, but they have been at the receiving end of Akpabio’s scorched earth policy. Their main concern now is whether Akpabio will give the governor a free hand to lead and manage the enlarged APC with fairness and equity; or whether the Senate President would want to turn the governor into a stooge and corner all opportunities for himself and allies. That was the cause of his fight with Gov. Udom Emmanuel which eventually led to his defection in 2018, and now people are wondering whether history will repeat itself.

I raised this point with Umana. His response: ‘’They (Akpabio and Eno) had managed their relationship fairly well in the last two years. The governor has his own style, so I do not foresee any problem’’. Other APC members are also hopeful that Eno and Akpabio will work together this time. Elder Aniefiok Isatt, businessman, says: ‘’I think Akpabio has matured politically and he has learned his lessons too. The fact that he has an important job as Senate President in Abuja should keep him away from meddling into party politics in the state’’. Atuekong Etiebet, a former minister who had also endured some indignities under Akpabio, notes that the governor’s defection ‘’is a completely new ball game’’, while Barr. Edet Eyo Bassey, a former State Publicity Secretary of the Party, believes that the entry of the governor has offered ‘’some psychological reliefs to some of us who have worked hard for the party, but had been abandoned as if we don’t matter’’. He noted that Umo Eno will bring all members under one canopy and treat them fairly. The governor himself has pledged to be fair to all, irrespective of party affiliation. He said at the Government House Banquet Hall while announcing his defection: ‘’Together with the old and new, we will build our dear state with unity; peace and inclusivity; love and kindred spirit’’ in accordance with the lyrics of the State’s Anthem.

Another talking point is how Akwa Ibom State would benefit from Eno’s entry into APC. In his speech, the governor explained that he was defecting because of ‘’enlightened State Interest predicated on the need to align our state with the Center to attract more federal presence’’. Top on the list of the expectations of the government and the people is that President Tinubu would support the state to build a deep sea port, an aspiration that is almost as old as the state. In April, many high ranking citizens wrote an open letter to the President, urging him to support the state to achieve this age old goal. Now that he’s joined the President’s party, Eno will campaign vigorously for the reelection of the President, hoping that the President would, in return, support the state to build the sea port – a point Dr. Ita Udosen, APC South-South Zonal Secretary, aligns with. He says that Akwa Ibom people are solidly behind their governor in the expectation that this dream would be realized under the Tinubu presidency.

Gov. Eno’s movement to APC is one the most eventful political developments this year and will undoubtedly influence the outcomes of the 2027 presidential election. But I am also aware that APC leaders have been piling pressure on the eight non-APC governors in the South to defect to counterbalance the President’s dwindling popularity in the North. So far, Gov. Sheriff Oborevwori has moved, while more pressures are being piled on Gov. Peter Mba of Enugu and Alex Otti of Abia. There are indications that Gov. Charles Soludo of Anambra may defect next year. It is just unbelievable that the PDP leadership has been watching helplessly as their party withers away.