The President of the 10th National Assembly, Senator Godswill Akpabio and the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno are gearing towards their reelection bid ahead of the 2027 general elections.
This played out days ago when the people of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial district declared Akpabio as the sole candidate for the 2027 senatorial race.
According to report the event was a grand reception for the Senate President in Ikot Ekpene local government area of the state.
According to Akpabio at the event, “When you said in 2027 no one should contest, it means it’s only one candidate from the senatorial district and no other person.”
In the same vein, at the event, the people also hailed the governor, Pastor Umo Eno for his ability to bring unity and peace between his administration and the successive ones.
It is known that the frosty relationship between former governor Udom Emmanuel and senator Godswill Akpabio never deterred Eno from seeking affinity with the senate president to clear every political obstacle on his way.
The governor urged the people of Akwa Ibom Northwest to also adopt him as the sole candidate for governorship election in 2027 having adopted Akpabio whom he described as his “political grandfather” as a sole candidate for the senate.
The exercise, however, was more like a barter system of politics where Akpabio of the All Progressives Congress, APC, will not have any opponent to contend with in 2027, while Gov Umo Eno, the leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state will not have a contender from the main opposition party (APC) come 2027.
Eno said, “this honour shows that Ikot Ekpene Senatorial district will support Umo Eno for another eight years, after that I will hand over to them.
“I am the grandson of Senator Akpabio and I know I will enjoy uncommon benefits from the uncommon grandfather.”
Akpabio in a reaction promised to work with Gov Eno to realise his aspirations, even as he stressed that he would not force him to cross carpet to APC.
He said, “I’m not telling you to join our party but continue to work with God and we will support you to succeed. You want to see federal projects in the state, you’ll see more than federal projects.
“The National Assembly will work with you for you to succeed as governor, irrespective of political party lines. You have received the Federal Government with smiles, we will receive you in Abuja with benefits of democracy for your people.”
If Akpabio’s pledge and promises are something to go by, that means the rumour that the governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, in the 2023 elections in Akwa Ibom, Senator Bassey Akpan would defect to the APC to be the governorship candidate in the 2027 elections may be hoax.
Feelers have it that the senate president having displayed such a public romance with the governor may want to live to his words by impressing it on his party (APC) to support governor Eno’s second term bid as long as PDP will live to its side of bargain by not fielding any senatorial candidate in Akwa Ibom Northwest.
The feeling is that Senator Akpan, popularly known as OBA may not dig it out with Gov Eno during the 2027 polls as expected but would be compensated with a ministerial slot.
Meanwhile, it is not yet uhuru for Akpabio to assume the sole candidacy of Akwa Ibom Northwest for the 2027 Senatorial elections as the ruling PDP has come out to say it would field a candidate for the senatorial race.
The PDP said it was working hard to bring out a competent candidate for the district who would give the present representative a bleeding nose at the polls.
Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Akwa Ibom State chapter, Mr Borono Bassey, speaking with our correspondent in Uyo, said people should not mistake the event at the Ikot Ekpene stadium to mean the position of the PDP.
Bassey, while stressing that the event was purely an APC event and the people were at liberty to make proclamations, stated that the PDP would field a candidate for the 2027 senatorial seat.
He said Pastor Umo Eno attending the APC event showed his bipartisan approach to governance and had nothing to do with the position of the PDP in the 2027 elections.
According to him, “we are going to field a candidate for that election and our candidate is going to win the election.
“The truth is that the event was majorly an APC event so they were within their rights to make proclamations or wishes.
“We, as a party, are working hard, re-strategizing and having statewide ward meetings at all times to win the elections.
“We should know that the governor is the governor of Akwa Ibom State and what he is doing now is governance and not politicking.
“He is adopting a bipartisan disposition, what he is saying is that as long as you are Akwa Ibom person, or doing genuine business in Akwa Ibom State, he is your governor, you should be celebrated and protected.
“He is ensuring that he safeguards lives and property, so what we should do is to distinguish governance from politics and when the time for politics comes, of course, we will bring our candidate.
“The governor said he will be the governor of Akwa Ibom State and not the governor for PDP.”
