Secrets Reporters
Politics in Akwa Ibom has once again shed its gloves as Governor Umo Eno on Thursday led a retinue of political heavyweights, including Emmanuel Enoidem, SAN, to the Uyo residence of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, a move that brutally exposed the fast-blurring line between governance and partisan scheming in what insiders describe as a carefully choreographed pre-defection ritual.
The meeting, held behind closed doors but loud in political symbolism, came barely hours before Enoidem, a former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is expected to formally dump the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC) at a grand rally scheduled for 3:00 p.m. today in Etim Ekpo. In Nigeria’s political theatre, such visits are rarely courtesy calls; they are often the final handshake before a public somersault.
What has stirred even deeper controversy, however, is where the news broke. Rather than emerging from party platforms or campaign structures, the development was announced via the Official Facebook page of the Akwa Ibom State Government, a platform funded by public resources and meant for governance, not partisan drumbeats. Critics say the page has increasingly morphed into a campaign noticeboard, raising serious questions about the misuse of state machinery for party politics.
Observers argue that the government’s social media handle, which should serve as a neutral channel for policies, public service announcements, and civic engagement, is now being weaponised as a political megaphone, drowning governance in the noise of defections, rallies, and power plays. “When government platforms become party billboards, democracy is short-changed,” a civil society activist in Uyo warned.
The latest development also reopens the conversation around Governor Umo Eno’s own political volte-face. Recall that the governor himself defected to the APC in June last year, a move that sent shockwaves through the PDP in Akwa Ibom and cracked open the once-solid opposition stronghold. Since then, the state’s political landscape has resembled a chessboard mid-game, with pawns and kings alike switching sides in rapid succession.
Enoidem’s anticipated defection is seen as another strategic capture in the APC’s aggressive consolidation drive in the South-South. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria with deep roots in Akwa Ibom politics, his move is expected to trigger a domino effect, pulling along loyalists, local power brokers, and grassroots structures.
Yet, beyond the celebration of political realignments lies a darker cloud: the erosion of institutional boundaries. Analysts warn that when incumbents deploy the full weight of government platforms to amplify party interests, the playing field tilts dangerously, leaving opposition voices gasping for oxygen.
