Umo Eno, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, has ordered all of his commissioners and appointees to either quit their jobs or defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) with him.
The governor claimed that despite his passion for the PDP, the party’s continuous internal strife prevents him from ensuring a smooth election triumph.
Governor Eno confirmed the instruction during Thursday’s State Executive Council, which has been the subject of weeks’ worth of social media rumors.
Governor Eno stated, “I’m moving party, so it’s no longer news. If you don’t know that by now, I don’t know what else you know.”
Although they are not required to join him in the APC, he informed the commissioners and appointees that they cannot continue serving in his cabinet while belonging to another party.
We want our commissioners and Excos members to be appointed. I’ve heard that some of you are claiming that you won’t be joining me, but you won’t be on my state executive council.
Since you are an appointee and your loyalty is to me, you had better be ready to step down the day I make my move public. You cannot play anti-party while serving in my cabinet; it is what it is and not a threat.
He informed the appointees, “I won’t beg you to come; you shouldn’t normally even expect it.” The governor claimed that despite his passion for the PDP, the party’s continuous internal strife prevents him from ensuring a smooth election triumph.
“I want to stay in the PDP because I love it, but it’s obvious that I don’t have a plan to ensure that I’ll have an easy time in the elections—not because we won’t win. Even if we run on a zero party, we will win this election because of the work that we have all done in this state. It is without question.
Despite our best efforts, we are aware that our party is not uniting on a national basis. Governor Eno stated, “Every day, secretary this and that, so you take your form, they send it to INEC, and then you run all the elections, and you might win the elections, but just on a technical basis, you lose everything because the wrong person signed your form.”
