As in every issue or event in the polity, mixed reactions greeted the report on Thursday, May 22, 2025, that the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, had directed all commissioners and other political appointees in his government to either defect with him to the All Progressives Congress (APC), or resign from their positions.
This comes barely one month after the “political tsunami” that swept through the Delta State chapter of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), when Governor Sheriff Oborevwori; former Governor and ex-vice presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 General Election, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa; elected and appointed officials from the national to ward levels; and members and the party structure moved enmasse to the ruling APC.
While members of the APC were jubilant in anticipation of their ranks being swelled in Akwa Ibom – and a sure bet of winning the state during the 2027 election – the PDP, as usual, blamed the exodus from its fast-depleting platform on President Bola Tinubu for his alleged stifling of the opposition, and desire to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
The broader criticism, though, was that those decamping from the opposition parties are either coerced to join the APC “for protection from prosecution for corruption,” or fleeing the “sinking PDP ship” to enhance their political fortunes in the APC in 2027.
In the midst of this disfavouring scenario to the PDP, Governor Eno released his bombshell at the State Executive Council (Exco) meeting, confirming his long-rumoured decision to leave the PDP, and directing his appointees to follow him to the APC, as reported by Vanguard on May 22, quoting sources at the meeting.
Noting that his defection shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of his appointees, Eno stated: “Anybody who claims he is not aware of my intention to leave the PDP is still living in the 18th century,” warning that he’d nothing to negotiate with anyone unwilling to follow his political direction.
“Apart from elected officials, like House of Assembly members and Local Government chairmen, I have nothing to negotiate with you (his appointees),” Eno declared, boasting, “Let me tell you, anybody who believes that when I leave the PDP he will use the party structure to fight me is lying because I will still control the PDP structure.”
For his potential defection to sit well with the Akwa Ibom people, Eno said his decision to align with the APC was driven by his “admiration for the leadership style of President Tinubu,” and desire to “work more closely with the Federal Government.”
But 72 hours later, on May 25, the governor threw another bombshell, barring Channels Television crew from the Akwa Ibom Government House press centre in Uyo, the state capital city, over the station’s airing, on May 23, a footage of his reported declaration to defect to the APC.
The broadcast allegedly “caused embarrassment within the governor’s camp, prompting swift action from the state’s media handlers,” The ConclaveNg reported on May 25, citing PREMIUM TIMES, which quoted a source to have said: “The governor was so furious he wanted to sack Ekerete and disband the entire press corps” – referring to Ekerete Udoh, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary.
Mr Udoh – who summoned the press corps shortly after the Channels TV broadcast of the video, in which Eno confirmed his plans to defect to the APC – broke the news of the governor’s reported barring of the television reporter and cameraman, Christopher Moffat and Kufre Ikpe, respectively, from the Government House press centre.
A flurry of questions: Did Governor Eno make the remarks attributed to him? If yes, what rules did Channels TV break to warrant its crew being barred from the press centre? Was Eno misquoted? Was his statement taken out of context? Or was the report and broadcast false, and a figment of the imagination of the television crew?
Months before Eno eventually “let the cat out of the bag,” his utterances, actions and body language left even the politically-uninformed to be aware that it’s a matter of time before he dumped the PDP for APC. The governor repeatedly praised Tinubu for his economic reforms that have freed more resources to the States, and told his critics that he wouldn’t, for the sake of opposition politics, pick unnecessary fights with the President.
Lately at a stakeholders’ meeting, leaders from the political divide in Akwa Ibom passed a vote of confidence in President Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Governor Eno, and endorsed the trio for re-election for second terms in office in 2027.
So, why is Eno agitated that Channels TV relayed his declarative statement to decamp to the APC? Has the governor been playing hide-and-seek with the party, Tinubu and Akpabio? Were his prior public displays a mere posturing intended to attract attention and interest, and make the unwary believe his intention to defect to the APC was a done deal? Has he reconsidered his decision, and strategy to defect as no longer feasible following some unwelcoming reactions to his announcement?
Eno should be man enough to say what’s amiss, and be damned! Nobody forced him to make that declaration, which he can as well renounce at will. After all, membership of a political party is dictated by free entry and free exit. And Nigerian politicians are adept at defection and re-defection. They can decamp to party B in the morning, and decamp back to party A in the evening of the same day!
Eno’s case is easier, as he hasn’t yet defected to the APC. He can hide under the alibi of “being misquoted or quoted out of context,” or simply that “the report by Channels TV on the remarks attributed to him was fake news concocted by nosey, busybody, and mischief reporters.” And that’ll be all; no qualms and no further questions asked!
But, once again, on Thursday, May 29, Governor Eno restated his resolve to defect from the PDP, which he says he loves, but that “it’s time to progressively move on.” This was at a state banquet in Uyo, held to mark his second year in office, where he called for continuing unity of Akwa Ibom across party lines, as reported by The Nation on May 31.
Even as he didn’t directly say he’d join the APC, Eno, expressing his “fondness” for the PDP, said: “I respect our party, the PDP. I love the PDP. But we all know the way things are (likely referring to current crisis in the party). So, whatever happens, wherever the journey of life takes me, I will always love you (PDP members). We’ve built strong friendships, and we will always keep them.
“If you have anything to do, invite me – I will come. I will always be there. But it’s time to progressively move. That, again, will not affect anything in this state. We do not govern based on political affiliations. I would love to see all our party leaders seated together like this, across party lines.
“We must always put Akwa Ibom first. We know we have Akwa Ibomites in the PDP, APC, YPP, and IPAC. What matters most is that there is food, security, and welfare for our people. The ARISE Agenda provides for all these. Whenever anyone flies into Akwa Ibom, please drop your party tag and know you are flying into a united Akwa Ibom.”
While the public rue the fate that befell the Channels TV’s crew, it puzzles that Governor Eno barred the reporters from the Government House press centre for “daring” to file a report on his remarks for broadcast. His action breaches Section 22 of the amended 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, which mandates that, “The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold… the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people.”
Unless, otherwise, Eno says his proposed defection to the APC is solely a private matter, which it’s not because – in the absence of independent candidacy enshrined in the Constitution – only a political party can legally sponsor a candidate for elective office in Nigeria. So, the governor must necessarily belong to a party to qualify to contest for re-election in 2027 or any other election cycle.
Why the focus on Channels TV’s crew, leaving out reporters of other media outfits that also filed the defection story? If the crew had previous issues with coverage of the governor and was warned but fell prey once again, Eno should’ve had recourse to their employer, to caution or ask to withdraw them.
The governor can’t – by fiat – ban the reporters from the press centre, a “supposedly” public space, unlike at a private property where you can bar people, for example, from trespass or interference in your affairs. Moreso as Mr Moffat has been Channels TV’s correspondent at the Government House for over 10 years – a sort of doyen of the press corps, who won’t deliberately break the ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ at the seat of power.
If Governor Eno’s serious, and sincerely wants to defect to the APC, it’s incumbent on him to rescind, and lift his ban on the Channels TV crew, to be free to access the press centre at the Government House, Uyo. Nothing else will suffice in the circumstances!
_Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
