Akwa Ibom religious council rejects Gov. Emmanuel’s choice of successor

A religious group under the aegies of Akwa Ibom Council of Ministers, has rejected the anointed successor to Gov. Udom Emmanuel, Pastor Eno Umoh, saying choosing the Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources by the governor to replace him in 2023 was an act of imposition.

Gov. Emmanuel had presented Umoh on Sunday, at a meeting of the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Stakeholders at the Government House in Uyo, as his anointed successor.

But the move has been met by dissenting voices as politicians who also nurse gubernatorial ambitions have accused the governor of bias and imposition.

While addressing a press conference in Uyo on Friday, the President of Akwa Ibom Council of Ministers, Apostle Joseph Nyong, the group said Gov. Emmanuel did not “display equity and fairness in endorsing Umoh.”

“We insist that Gov. Udom Emmanuel’s endorsement of Pastor Eno Umoh amounted to imposition and outsmarting of the majority of Akwa Ibom people.

READ ALSO: Akwa Ibom PDP backs Gov Emmanuel’s choice of successor

“Such endorsement does not only smack of imposition and direct affront on the political will of majority of Akwa Ibom people, but it is also a clear violation of the longstanding and immutable zoning arrangements in the state,’ the Council said.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that it is only Itu/Ibiono Ibom Federal Constituency that has yet to produce a governor of all the federal constituencies within Uyo Senatorial District.

“It is therefore equitable and fair that it should be micro zoned to the federal constituency of Itu/Ibiono.

“It will only be fair and equitable for Gov. Emmanuel’s successor to come from Itu-Ibiono Ibom Federal Constituency in the interest of peace and fair play,” it added.

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