Selective endorsements for second term have generated palpable fear and prompted allegations of inequality within the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Akwa Ibom State.
Before his official defection from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to the ruling All Progressives Congress on June 6, 2025, Governor Umo Eno had declared support for President Tinubu’s’ second term in 2027, a development that was viewed as anti-party statement by members of his former political party.
Consequently, after his defection, he made a louder statement that the state would return President Tinubu, Senator Akpabio and other APC candidates that would be selected for the 2027general election.
Contrary to expectations, the governor seemed to have stepped back on that statement on the return tickets for national and state lawmakers, who defected with him after days of horse trading.
The tension became louder in November during the statewide town hall meeting, which the governor facilitated to appreciate and familiarise with officers and faithful of his new party after his defection.
It would have been taken for granted, but the uniformity and the chorus of endorsements on the same President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and the State Governor Umo Eno by the leadership of the APC and other critical stakeholders of the party, and what pundits described as a conspiracy of silence on the return tickets for the remaining two senators, the ten members of the Federal House of Representatives and the twenty four members of the State House of Assembly, even after their questionable carpet crossing, validates the allegations of selective endorsements and lend credence to audible suspicion that some of them may seek a return ticket on the platform of other political parties, particularly the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
Read also: How Governor Eno is riding the political wave in Akwa Ibom
The state Chairman of APC Media Network, Iniobong John, in an interview with our correspondent said that the party only resolved to return the trio, not all.
”APC ticket is not for sale. We will only return President Tinubu, Senator Akpabio and Gov. Umo Eno for second term in 2027. Every other person will work for his return ticket, which will be based on performance and public acceptance.
We don’t believe in cheating. Those, who laboured and toiled to maintain the APC should be considered too. There are those, who aspired and spent their fortunes on the platform of the APC when it was an opposition party. So, it will be too bad to deny them a chance to contest. It’s not an oversight or mistake; it’s a policy statement.”
Reliable sources in the state ADC have confided in our correspondent that some state and national lawmakers are in touch with their party, having sensed that the governor will not, and is not prepared to wrestle for their return tickets in APC as promised before their defections.
Investigations reveal that Governor Umo Eno had, hours before his defection, ”effectively” mobilized other senators, members of the Federal House of Representatives and other critical stakeholders to join him to the new party.
While some see the ”selective endorsements’ as political inequalities, others advise the victims to give justice a chance and allow the party to compensate those, who had been there before them.
Recall that on December 30th, Akwa Ibom Youth, under the umbrella of Akwa Ibom Youth United, had also marched along the streets of Uyo with placards and solidarity songs, endorsing President Tinubu, Senator Akpabio and Governor Umo Eno for second term, a development that further fuelled the fear of selective endorsements.
