Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno has issued an ultimatum to his commissioners and appointees: either join him in defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC) or resign.
The governor made this directive during a State Executive Council meeting on Thursday, confirming weeks of social media rumors.
“It’s no more news that I’m moving party, if you don’t know that by now, I don’t know what else you know,” Eno stated.
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He clarified that while his appointees are not obligated to switch parties with him, he will not allow them to remain in his cabinet if they belong to a different political party.
“So, we want our commissioners and members of Excos, appointees; I am told that some of you are saying that you will not come, you are free, absolutely free not to join me, but you won’t be in my state executive council,” he explained.
“So, you better just be prepared to resign the day I announce that I’m moving because you are an appointee and your loyalty is to me. You can’t be in my cabinet and play anti-party, it’s not a threat, it is what it is. I won’t beg you to come, you should normally not even expect it.”
Governor Eno explained his decision by citing the ongoing internal crisis within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), his current party, which he believes could jeopardize smooth election victories.
“I love the PDP, I want to stay in the PDP but clearly, I don’t have a road map to guarantee that I’ll be able to have a smooth sail in the elections, not because we won’t win elections,” he said.
He expressed confidence in his administration’s work, stating, “In this state today, with the work that all of us have done, even if we contest on a zero party, we will win this election. There’s no doubt about it. We’ve worked very hard.”
However, he voiced concern about the PDP’s disunity at the national level: “But we know that at the national level that our party is not coming together. Every day, secretary this and that, and so you take your form, they send it to INEC, and then you run all the elections, you perhaps win the elections and just on technical ground, because the wrong person signed your form, you lose everything.”
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