Akwa Ibom professionals, youths clash over Udom’s successor

The nomination of Akwa-Ibom State Commissioner for Land and Water Resources, Pastor Uno Eno, by Governor Udom Emmanuel to succeed him has led to a clash of opinions between Akwa Ibom State professionals and a coalition of youth groups.

The professionals, under the aegis of Professionals For Development in Akwa Ibom, told journalists in Abuja that the choice of Pastor Eno was “a product of very wide consultations with critical stakeholders across the state, both within and outside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

National Coordinator of the group, Ufot Akan Umoren, noted that Emmanuel saved Akwa Ibom “the stress of unnecessary partisan contestation which would have caused the state huge financial and social losses.”

Umoren described Eno’s choice as a step “to ensure the consolidation and continuation of the laudable achievements of the governor.”

He said: “It is a step in the right direction and reflects the quest of the people for a governor that will walk in the footprints of Governor Emmanuel and continue in providing the peace, stability and development we enjoy under him today.”

The General Secretary of the group, Emem Akpan, said Pastor Eno, as Commissioner for Land and Water Resources, ensured prudence and transparency in the management of resources, an attribute, she added, Governor Udom Emmanuel is known for.
BUT the youth coalition, in a joint press conference yesterday, addressed by the Speaker of the South-South Youth Assembly (SSYA), Victor Thompson, and leader, Youth Democratic Movement (YDM), Kuseme Idiong, condemned the governor’s action.

According to them, Emmanuel’s picking of a successor before the party’s primary amounted to imposition and an appointment of a governor for the people.

They wondered why the governor would hide under the guise of ‘hearing from God’ to impose a governor on over six million indigenes of the state.

Thompson said: “It is very surprising that the governor is the only person in the state of over six million that can hear from God. The governor on the other hand has done a great disservice to the good and sensibility of over six million Akwa Ibom persons by singlehandedly trying to impose a liability on Akwa Ibom political space for yet to be disclosed reasons.

“It is pertinent to mention that Pastor Umo Eno who has never been associated with nor interested in the political process in Akwa Ibom State, will suddenly become interested in the race and so appointed without consideration for others who have paid their dues, loyalty, resources, time to nurse the administration until now.”