Militants, under the aegis of Unyekisong Akwa Ibom, have issued a one month ultimatum to Governor Udom Emmanuel to withdraw his endorsement of Pastor Umo Eno, as his preferred candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2023 governorship election in the state.
Emmanuel had at a recent meeting with the PDP stakeholders announced Eno, who is the Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources, as his preferred candidate to succeed him next year.
The militants, in a statement titled, ‘Unyekisong Ibom Reject Imposition of POS Governor’, made available to journalists on Wednesday, insisted that Akwa Ibom people must be allowed to choose whom to govern them.
In the statement signed by General Ekpo Ekpo, Commander Akan Bassey and Commander Sampson Umanah, the militants said they would not fold their arms and watch the governor impose a successor on the people.
According to them, the endorsement of Eno is a huge threat to the PDP family and the entire state.
The statement read in part, “The coalition of all freedom fighters and pressure group in Akwa Ibom State has been meeting for the past few days to review the current political situation in the state, especially the endorsement of Pastor Umo Eno by Governor Udom Emmanuel as the next governor of Akwa Ibom.
“Unyekisong Akwa Ibom totally rejects and condemns the endorsement of Pastor Umo Eno as the next governor of Akwa Ibom state by Governor Udom Emmanuel and states strongly that this is unacceptable.
“The endorsement of Pastor Umo Eno is not only a threat to the PDP family, but the entire state, which will bring anarchy, insecurity and killings. The nomination of a particular candidate by the governor and leader of the party is totally unjust and unfair to other governorship aspirants in the state.
“After carefully studying the report submitted by credible sources, we have come to the conclusion that the endorsement of Pastor Umo Eno is not for the benefit of the state, but it will rather serve as a POS to Mr Udom Emmanuel after leaving office to siphon money.
“We, therefore, give the governor one month ultimatum to withdraw his support for Pastor Umo Eno, go back to the drawing board and do proper consultation before making further statements concerning his successor, failure of which shall be disastrous as we will not fold our arms and watch his imposition unchallenged.”
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