2027 poll: Disquiet in Akwa Ibom as governorship aspirants keep mum

There appears to be lack of enthusiasm and subtle disquiet in the political arena as politicians have yet to begin consultations ahead of next year’s general election.

The apparent lack of interest, BusinessDay gathered is born out of the hardship people are going through, the endless power outages, the high cost of fuel and the inability of the government to address the challenges promptly.

Also, governorship candidates of the various political parties have yet to openly declare interest in challenging Governor Umo Eno who looks set to fly the flag of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s gubernatorial election.

By this time in 2023, political parties were already in the thick of consultations, both the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the APC were poised for a contest on who would take over from Udom Emmanuel, a banker-turned politician who was rounding off his tenure after eight years in office.

Indeed, it was a two-horse fight between Umo Eno of the PDP and Akan Udofia of the APC in addition to the energy brought into the fray by the candidate of the YPP whose flag bearer, Bassey Albert Akpan gave the other two aspirants a run for their money.

But the scenario appears quite different this time around. Apart from veteran politician, John James Udoedehe, who has emerged as the leader of the newly registered African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Akwa Ibom State and may likely fly the party’s flag in the governorship race, according to observers, there appears to be no other aspirant for the governorship position in the state, at least, for now.

Udoedehe, formerly of the APC where he served as the interim national secretary, has been known as the face of opposition in Akwa Ibom State having contested as governor on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2011.

With Eno’s defection in June last year to the APC from the PDP and his promise to keep an eye on the PDP, the once popular party that had held sway in Akwa Ibom for more than 16 years, PDP appears to be gasping for breath.

This can be seen at the PDP secretariat which is still being occupied by the police and with the party split into two factions, one faction loyal to Governor Eno while the other faction was installed by the national exco and pledged loyalty to a faction of the national working committee

Though PDP has maintained that it would field candidates in all elective positions in the state, for now, their statement has yet to be matched by action. They remain in dire strait and may not be able to present a formidable challenge to the APC in Akwa Ibom State.

Though political campaigns have yet to begin in full swing, the politicians appear to be studying the terrain and putting their acts together. For now, no governorship aspirant has openly indicated interest to challenge Governor Eno.

Last week, Eno warned that he would honour the agreement he reached with stakeholders including party chieftains before his defection, a development which according to analysts underscored the fate of aspirants who might have wished to take part in next year’s polls.

Observers said that the agreement had to do with allowing all elected serving politicians to be returned unopposed in their various constituencies across the 31 local government areas of the state.