Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno has expressed his readiness to shelf the immunity provided by the constitution to answer the anti-graft agencies if required.
The expression followed a recent controversial plan by an unknown All Progressives Congress (APC) group to draw the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) into beaming a searchlight on former governor of the state, Udom Emmanuel.
The APC group tasked the anti-graft bodies to investigate the financial records of Akwa Ibom State between 2015 and 2023 when Emmanuel was the governor.
Former governor Emmanuel’s successor, Pastor Eno, in reaction to the clamour vowed to shade his immunity to face any probe.
Speaking in an interview monitored in by our correspondent in Uyo, the state capital on recent political developments including his rumoured plan to defect to the APC, the governor said he was clearly focusing on running his administration with utmost fidelity based on absolute transparency, accountability and due process.
He expressed disappointment in mischief makers, who he recalled to have been in the habit of running down every political leaders of the state from Obong Victor Attah – 1999 – 2007; Chief Godswill Akpabio – 2007 – 2015; and now his immediate predecessor and godfather, Mr. Udom Emmanuel.
The governor attributed the reason some critics were overheating the polity to a plan to soil his relationship with the President Bola Tinubu, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and his political godfather, Mr. Emmanuel.
Since assumption into office on May 29, 2023, the governor recalled he had succeeded in building a bipartisan relationship with the centre, saying such affiliations in spite of political party differences, have yielded much socio-economic benefits to the state and urged those stoking the embers of discord to sheath their swords.
Advising against insult on leaders for political reasons, the governor said, ‘’He (Akpabio) is our son; and in spite of party differences, we shall continue to support him and encourage him to do more for Akwa Ibom state.
“I know that there are other leaders who have a thing or two against the Senate President; I know that even within the same party, we do not see eye-to eye with others; but we cannot continue to live under the dictum of ‘an eye for an eye,’ otherwise we will all go blind,” he stressed.
He vowed that no amount of political subterfuge would pressure him into running a politically suffocating administration; one that would keep him at loggerhead with the Senate President and other leaders, stressing that Akwa Ibom cannot remain a pariah state under his watch.
‘’My personal philosophy is that I do not hate anybody based only on what I have been told, and I do not inherit anybody’s enemies,’’ the governor added.
He emphasised that he was also very respectful of President Tinubu, and the Minister of State for petroleum resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo, assuring that he would always collaborate with them for the benefit of the state.
‘’Any detractor who feels that I should be fighting with our leaders should look elsewhere. As far as Akwa Ibom state is concerned, I will work with all leaders, irrespective of party affiliations for the benefit of the people,” he said.
He maintained that “I’m the political son of Udom Emmanuel, who in turn is the political son of Akpabio, and to that extent, I am the political grandchild of the Senate President, and in Ibibio tradition, a grandchild does not cry in the presence of the grandfather.”
On the rumours of ploting to ditch the PDP for APC, governor Eno, waved such insinuation as a “non-issue,” maintaining that ‘’we are focused on the job at hand, and we are in full support of the Senate President, if not for any other thing, but for the fact that he’s a proud son of Akwa Ibom State.”
Recall that rumours of the governor’s defection have been rife in recent times, with political bookmakers citing the cordial relationship he has established with the Akpabio, himself a former governor of the state, and President Tinubu at the centre to drive home their speculations.
They pointed out that in order to cow and cajole the governor and his political godfather, Emmanuel into joining the APC, their critics resorted to recent petition filed against the former governor at the EFCC and ICPC on allegations of corrupt practices during his era as governor.
But the governor was quick to dismiss it as ‘’a wild conjecture,” recalling that his godfather had aquitted himself so well in delivering good governace to the people to be drawn into such saga.
‘’As a government, we do not see what wrong the former Governor Udom Emmanuel has done. He worked hard for the state and committed resources into projects that will stand the test of time.
“Look at the new airport terminal building and the MRO. If we are to start such projects anew today, the cost would be quite prohibitive. So, I do not really see the justification for the petition, apart from the fact that some people just want to humiliate our leaders,” Governor Eno noted.
He regretted that it has become a tradition for some persons in the state to go after every former governor since 1999.
‘’Obong Attah faced the same persecution when he left office; the same thing happened to Chief Akpabio, and now it is the turn of Udom Emmanuel. Why are our people treating our former leaders in this manner? Why do they derive joy in humiliating our leaders? This does not happen elsewhere,” the governor stated.
There have also been rumours that Udom Emmanuel is at odds with the governor because of the cordial relationship he has with the Senate President, but the governor dismissed it as being ‘far from from the truth.’’
“That can’t be correct. The former governor, is not like that. He has never raised it with me. Rather, it is my belief that it is in the best interest of the state for us to respect our leaders and treat them with the love and decorum that they deserve,’’ he explained.
He assured that he is conducting government’s business with utmost integrity, transparency and honesty, and that he was ready at any moment to waive his immunity and submit himself for investigation, if necessary.
On allegation that politicians are in the habit of stealing and stashing cash for their children and grandchildren, the governor retorted: ‘’For what?. What do I need it for?.
“That’s a very useless way of leaving a legacy for your family. Do you know that since I have been on this job, I have received many children of former leaders from other parts of the country, who have come here to look for what they can get?
“Is it that what their fathers left for them are not enough? Or they didn’t even leave anything for them? As for me, I have had a conversation with my children about that; I told them we must all leave above board, and that a good name is better than gold”.
