Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno has issued a blunt ultimatum to members of his cabinet: join him in his impending defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) or resign their positions.
In a video aired by Channels TV on Friday, Governor Eno, speaking at a State Executive Council meeting on Thursday, made clear that political alignment with him is now a non-negotiable condition for serving in his administration.
“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,” the governor said, addressing his appointees. “You are free, absolutely free, not to join me, but you won’t be in my state executive council.”
Eno emphasized that loyalty to him as governor must reflect in political allegiance. “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.”
The governor also hinted at deepening internal wrangling within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a driving force behind his decision to dump the party that brought him to power.
READ ALSO: When Time Comes, I’ll Explain Support for Tinubu’s Second Term — Gov Eno
“I love the PDP, I want to stay in the PDP, but clearly, I don’t have a roadmap to guarantee a smooth sail in the elections,” Eno explained. “Even if we contest on a zero party platform, we will win. But at the national level, our party is not coming together.”
He expressed concern that procedural irregularities and internal disunity in the PDP could cost the party victories in future elections, even after hard-earned campaigns.
“Every day, secretary this and that. So you take your form, they send it to INEC, and you run all the elections, win them—and just on technical grounds, because the wrong person signed your form, you lose everything,” he said.
Governor Eno’s declaration signals a major political shift in Akwa Ibom, where the PDP has held sway since 1999. The defection—if followed through—could dramatically reshape the state’s political landscape and realign its leadership structure ahead of the next election cycle.