Clerics ask Udom to rescind decision on choice of successor.

A group of clerics under the aegis of Akwa Ibom State Council of Ministers has asked for the withdrawal of the recent endorsement of the state Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources Umo Eno as Governor Udom Emmanuel’s successor in 2023.

Eno has been endorsed by stakeholders as Udom’s most likely successor, a development that has generated mixed reactions in the state.

Addressing a reporter in Uyo, the state capital, President of Akwa Ibom Council of Ministers Joseph Nyong and Secretary Elijah Usoh said equity and fairness were not displayed in the endorsement.

The group explained that former governor Obong Victor Attah who was said to have been behind the endorsement was a product of the zoning system in 1999 and wondered why the statesman decided to support Governor Udom Emmanuel to scuttle the same zoning arrangements that enthroned him as governor of the state.

“We also express our disappointment and dissatisfaction at the pivotal role played by the duo of Obong Victor Attah and Oku Ibom Ibibio on the said endorsement. Attah as an elder statesman and a beneficiary of zoning can not blow hot and cold at the same time. ”

” Moreover, the Oku Ibom Ibibio as the custodian of if our traditional institution is expected at all times to be a father to all and maintained neutrality in the political affairs of the state.”

The President of the group insisted that Governor Emmanuel’s endorsement amounted to imposition and outsmarting of the majority of Akwa Ibom people.

” Such endorsement does not only snack of imposition and direct affront on the political will of the majority of Akwa Ibom people but is also a clear violation of the long-standing and immutable zoning arrangements in the state. ”

He, therefore, urged governor Emmanuel to search for his successor from Itu- Ibiono Ibom Federal Constituency in the interest of peace, equity and fair play.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that it is only Itu/ Ibiono Ibom Federal Constituency that is yet to produce the governor of all 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 “.

He observed that governor Emmanuel and some few individuals under the guise of ” fathers of faith ” claimed that God revealed his choice of successor adding that it was a bare face lie being given credence.

Read also: Why I chose Umo Eno as my successor, says Udom

” The God we worship is not an author of confusion not a purveyor of crisis and disunity. As a God of orderliness, equity and fairness, it is incongruous and unconscionable for the governor and the so-called fathers of faith to use his name to seek validation of an obviously unpopular and unacceptable choice”

The group threatened that if the public discontentment that heralded the endorsement is not well handled, it might degenerate into an avoidable crisis in the 2023 general election.

The president added that the church could not stay aloof and watch ‘as few individuals mortgage the peace and stability of the state,” adding that the right thing must be done by reversing the decision of a preferred candidate of the state.

” We want to categorically state here that for the purpose of emphasis that as a church, we will not fold our arms and watch few individuals mortgage the peace and stability enjoyed in the state,” he said.