A Peep into the Governorship Race

The governorship race in Akwa Ibom will be a straight fight between Emmanuel of the PDP, and Nsima Ekere, the Managing Director of the NDDC, who will be running on the APC ticket. Ekere is the leading aspirant among the six contestants in the APC.

The APC has been proving a capable opposition, especially since the defection of Akpabio to its fold. Since 2014, leading political leaders in the state led by Mr. Umana Okon Umana (the MD of Oil & Gas Free Zones Authority) and two serving senators have joined the party from the PDP.

In August, Akpabio also joined the party in an elaborate ceremony in Ikot Ekpene. Since then, thousands of PDP members from across the state had defected into the party, notably Akpabio’s former deputy, Mrs Valerie Ebe. She succeeded Ekere as Akpabio’s deputy. With Ebe’s switch, the key functionaries of the Akpabio administration from 2007-2015 are now in the APC.

“PDP is now on life support. It is only a matter of time, they will give up”, says Umana, who was the Secretary to the State Government in the first six years of the Akpabio era.

Akpabio’s entry into the APC has inflicted a psychological trauma on Emmanuel and the PDP. He was the face of the party both in the state and nationally. Since the defection, PDP is believed to have been considerably weakened by the continuous streams of defections of its members into the APC. The governor’s problem is being worsened by the fact that he did not nurture his own independent structures while Akpabio was with him.

Now that the governor does not only appear to be lacking formidable support, he doesn’t seem to enjoy the trust and confidence of the key people around him, most of who owe their prominence to the former Senate minority leader.

But again, the party has a lot to contend with if Ekere eventually emerges its candidate. Currently battling different corruption allegations, including a mismanagement of the NDDC, handing such a character the lever of power might be yet an even worse injustice on the people, pundits argued.

This is why many people in the state hold the view that they would rather deal with the devil they had always known than embrace the angel they cannot vouch for. Indeed, with this scenario, Akwa Ibom is not to be envied, but its dynamics would be an interesting watch in netx year’s election.