Akwa Ibom Council Polls: Beyond APC’s victory in Akpabio’s enclave

The victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Essien Udim Council of Akwa Ibom State in the October 5 chairmanship and councillorship elections underscores the cordial relationship between Governor Umo Eno and Senate President Godswill Akpabio, which should attract more dividends of democracy to the people of the state, ONYEDIKA AGBEDO writes.

The victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Essien Udim Council of Akwa Ibom State in the October 5 chairmanship and councillorship elections in the state was unexpected. The result announced by the Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC), Elder Aniedi Ikoiwak, showed that Usoro Ntiedo Effiong of the APC scored 51,751 votes to beat his closest rival in the election, Enobong Patrick Friday of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 22,799 votes. Out of the 31 councils in the state, Essien Udim was the only one won by the APC as PDP cleared 30 other council areas.

The result indicated a deviation, albeit little, from the pattern of council elections across the country, lately, where the party in power or the party, which the governor supports, records a landslide victory.

For instance, the PDP won all the 17 chairmanship and 260 councillorship seats in Enugu State during the council polls held on Saturday, September 21.

In Imo State, the ruling All Progressives Congress (AP) won all the 305 councillorship seats and 27 chairmanship positions in the local council election also held on Saturday, September 21. This was also the case in Kwara State where the APC won all chairmanship and councillorship seats across the 16 local councils and 193 wards of the state, in the election also held on September 21.

The ruling PDP in Bauchi State also won all the 20 chairmanship seats in the Saturday, August 17, local council elections in the state. In fact, the story is the same across the states and the opposition always goes into local council polls without hope for victory.

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, had after casting his ballot during the Akwa Ibom polls, wondered how parties get 100 per cent of votes in elections.

Akpabio, who is a former governor of the state, predicted victory for his party in his local council, saying there is a need to strengthen the country’s democracy.

The President of the Senate, who voted at the Ukana Ward 1, Essien Udim Council of the state, said: “It was necessary for me to come and see how they normally win the 100 per cent with the avalanche of support that you have seen that I have in my senatorial district and in my local government, which you are all witnesses.

“How do people normally score this 100 per cent? So, it simply means that if elections are allowed to be free and fair, a lot of political parties will choose people on the basis of their competence and not on the basis of the ruling party in that state.

“It calls to question the conscience of Nigerians and the need for us to examine our conscience.”

Despite his position, many political observers saw the victory of his party in his council as the outcome of a political alliance.

During a call in radio programme monitored by The Guardian, some callers described the victory as a political palliative to APC so that the governor would maintain a cordial relationship with the Senate President and continue to draw federal presence to the state.

One of the callers said: “What happened in Essien Udim was just a gentleman’s agreement. It was purely based on the relationship the governor has with the senate president: Just a political palliative.”

Another caller at the programme said though Akpabio is on ground in his area, when it comes to local council elections, people have their preferences.

A veteran journalist, Etim Etim, in a short piece, titled, ‘Umo Eno, Akpabio and the Emerging Political Alliance’ noted that APC’s victory in Akpabio’s backyard saved him a huge political embarrassment.

“By allowing APC to win in Akpabio’s backyard, Gov. Umo Eno has saved the Senate President a huge political embarrassment, cemented the cordial relationship between the two leaders and formally signaled the nature of the game that would be played in 2027. A political alliance is being constructed between the senate president and the governor and this will shape the politics of 2027.

“Some of us have had an inkling of this mutually beneficial political alliance for some time now, and I am pleased that the contours are becoming visible. I commend the governor for being a man of honour and for extending uncommon respect and political civility to our senate president. Never before has such an inter-party cordiality and alliance played out in Akwa Ibom State.

“Furthermore, the governor has recently initiated the amendment of the state Traditional Rulers (TRC) Law just to accommodate and pacify Senator Akpabio and others who did not like the provisions of the law. Political pundits will now be watching out to see how the senate president would reciprocate these gestures. Akpabio owes Umo Eno, in particular and Akwa Ibom people in general, a lot. He must assist the governor to bring ‘democracy dividends’ from Abuja to our people. Umo Eno is also obsessed with keeping the peace in the state. The Senate President should also help in this area by eschewing incendiary commentaries and fostering peaceful coexistence with others, especially other APC chieftains and political leaders who have been offended by his style of politics. He should also show compromise, large heart and selflessness. He should take a cue from the governor and be magnanimous to his ‘enemies’. The governor has invested a great deal of his political capital on the senate president. He should not be disappointed.”

Many political observers are not oblivious of the cordial relationship between the governor and the senate president. This is notwithstanding the fact that Akpabio’s estranged political godson and successor in office, Udom Emmanuel, was highly instrumental to Umo Eno’s emergence as the PDP governorship candidate and eventual victory at the 2023 general elections.

Unlike Emmanuel, the incumbent governor is very warm towards Akpabio. And at every forum that the governor and the senate president had met since their assumption of office, both had expressed desire to work together for progress of the state and the country.

On June 13, 2023, for example, the governor was present at the reception ceremony held in honour of Akpabio at his residence after his election as the senate president.

Speaking at the event, Eno promised to work with Akpabio in the overall interest of the people of Akwa Ibom, saying, “with what I have seen here today, party politics has been broken down.”

In his response, Akpabio had thanked Eno for the visit and commended him for opening a new chapter in the governance of the state by making “old things to pass away.”

On Friday, May 3, this year, when Akpabio paid a courtesy visit to the governor in Uyo, he tasked him to unite the state across party lines for its continued development and progress and not make his father’s enemies his enemies.

He described the governor as a man of peace, noting that, “Akwa Ibom is a very easy state to rule and govern but also a very difficult place to unite.”

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted the senate president as saying: “It is a major duty bestowed on you by God to unite the whole state. Let your actions speak unity to the state. As a governor, I united the state by appointing people into key positions without considering where they came from.

“I want you to unite your people without any political considerations. Even if you inherited a policy that was not in the best interest of the state, have the courage to change it.”

The former governor also advised Governor Eno to see himself as a surgeon in governance with three attributes of being brave as a lion, soft in heart as a maiden and having the eye of an eagle to see what others can’t see.

He added: “Do not inherit the enemies of your father; make your friends and enemies by yourself and remember always that it is one thing for you to get to the top and you must learn the balancing act in order to remain at the top.

“We are very happy to be here in your Council Chambers. Akwa Ibom is a state of class. I will like all states in Nigeria to be like us. With what I have seen here today, the act speaks for itself. Thank you for the warm reception and private audience you had with me, which I will communicate to President Bola Tinubu.

“I want to extend the felicitations of the Federal Government to the Government and people of Akwa Ibom State and I want to assure you that if there is anything the Federal Government would do for other state governments, Akwa Ibom State will also be highly considered for the same.”

In his welcome address, Governor Eno, thanked the Senate President and his colleagues for visiting the state and more importantly, the seat of power.

He thanked President Tinubu and the senators “for rallying round our son and beacon of light to make him the President of the 10th Senate. That is our joy and our pride.”

Pundits may indeed be right that there is an undisguised understanding between Akpabio and the governor, which paved the way for the APC to win in the senate president’s enclave during the council polls. If that is the case, the relationship will wax even stronger if Akpabio fulfills his promise of ensuring that Akwa Ibom State will be highly considered if there is anything the Federal Government would do for other state governments.

But what is the political implication of this understanding between the third highest political office holder in the country and the man at the helm of affairs in his state ahead of the 2027 general election?

Etim, who hails from the state, wrote: “…for now, suffice it to say that all those APC members from Uyo Senatorial District who are positioning themselves to challenge Umo Eno in 2027 should have a rethink; and all those PDP members in Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial District who are warming up to challenge Akpabio in 2027 should think gain. The “alliance” will trump all such ambitions, if all goes according to plans.”