Governor Eno Forced My Defection To APC – Enoidem

Ahead of the crucial general elections next year in Akwa Ibom State, one of the last bastions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has finally caved-in with the defection of the former national legal adviser to the party, Mr Emmanuel Enoidem.

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Giving insight into his decision to dump the PDP which he had been a founding member since the return of democracy in 1999, Enoidem disclosed that intense pressure from Governor Umo Eno weakened his heart to change his mind.

Speaking at Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s Shelter Afrique residence in Uyo during a late-night pre-defection meeting with stakeholders which dragged into the wee hours of Friday, Enoidem said the governor’s emotional appeal broke his hardline stance.

“Governor Umo Eno sent me a text message that gave me sleepless nights; he told me he is empty without me,” he recalled.

“I remember very well when he told me he was joining the APC; the governor did not rest. At every point he sees me, whether in church or at any event, he would tell me ‘my brother, I am very empty without you.’

“On January 9, the governor sent me a text message that kept me awake for three different days. For three different days I couldn’t sleep because of that particular text message.

“My reply was that I want to pray for three days; that he should wait for that three days to come. He later stormed my house with leaders of Akwa Ibom State that we used to work together for him.

“That night, it was impossible for me to say no to the governor. And that has given birth to this meeting today,” he stated.

At the meeting, Enoidem, a former PDP State Exco member, expressed happiness at being reunited with his former boss, Senator Akpabio, whom he served under in different ministries as commissioner between 2007 and 2015, when the senate president was the state governor.

At the defection proper held at Utu Etim Ekpo, headquarters of his Etim Ekpo local government, the elated Governor Eno, accompanied by the Senate President, members of the State Executive Council (SEC), leaders, elders and stakeholders of the APC, assured of seamless second terms for President Bola Tinubu, Akpabio and Eno, and charged the electorate to be in the vanguard of realising the mission.

With the defection of Enoidem, the only remnants still marking time in the former ruling party, LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered, include the immediate past Governor Udom Emmanuel; the current PDP publicity secretary, Comrade Iniobong Ememobong and the former speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Onofiok Luke.

Speaking in an interview with our correspondent in Uyo, the commissioner for Information, Dr Aniekan Umanah, dismissed the insinuation that Akwa Ibom was inching towards a one party state, explaining that “it’s all about a one, united Akwa Ibom” devoid of political party sentiments.