{"id":119473,"date":"2025-06-06T10:56:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T09:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=119473"},"modified":"2025-06-06T10:56:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T09:56:48","slug":"defection-akwa-ibomites-shout-no-as-gov-eno-hints-on-swapping-pdp-for-apc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/defection-akwa-ibomites-shout-no-as-gov-eno-hints-on-swapping-pdp-for-apc\/","title":{"rendered":"Defection: Akwa Ibomites shout &#8216;No&#8217; as Gov Eno hints on swapping PDP for APC"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>By Myke Agunwa<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The residents of Akwa Ibom state have publicly declared their opposition by the state governor, Umo Eno, elected on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Pointblanknews.com had earlier reported that the governor had in April, muted plans to join the APC.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He further mandated his commissioners and other appointees to get prepared to either join him in the APC or resign if they are not comfortable with his decision.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In a drama that ensued at a town hall meeting in Ikot Abasi on Wednesday, Governor Eno announced his intention to defect to the ruling party but met a resounding opposition and resistance from the crowd.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Speaking at the event, the governor said he had conducted extensive consultations and was convinced that \u201cit is time to move\u201d in order to align the state with the ruling party at the federal level.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe\u2019re progressively moving forward, linking Akwa Ibom to the centre. And I know you\u2019re going with us. Are you going with us, so we can connect to the centre?\u201d Eno asked.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The crowd however responded with a thunderous \u201cNo!\u201d, overshadowing the handful of \u201cYes\u201d voices, creating a tense atmosphere in the crowded event.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>But despite the resistance, the governor continued to make the case for defection, citing the need for Akwa Ibom to \u201cbelong and be counted\u201d in national politics, and to support President Bola Tinubu and Senate President Godswill Akpabio ahead of the 2027 general elections.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cWe thank you for your support. I\u2019ve gone round to consult\u2026 And so we have done enough consultation. The time has come that we will move. And we will go to where God is leading us.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cDo not be afraid. Believe in us. Believe in President Tinubu because the future is bright. We are already a minority state in Nigeria. If we come again and start breaking ourselves into pieces, we become minority of the minorities and cannot get anything.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Highlighting the importance of unity across party lines, he declared that Tinubu, Akpabio, and himself must return to office in 2027.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Recall that the governor had earlier expelled the Channels TV crew from the press centre inside Government House, Uyo.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The crew made up of Christopher Moffat, a reporter and Kufre Ikpe, a cameraman, were expelled\u00a0 for publishing a video clip in which Eno confirmed that the he would defect from the PDP to the APC.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Eno\u2019s spokesperson, Ekerete Udoh, who called the two members of the Channels TV crew after the report went viral, informed them that they had been barred from the press centre.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Myke Agunwa The residents of Akwa Ibom state have publicly declared their opposition by the state governor, Umo Eno, elected on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Defection: Akwa Ibomites shout &#039;No&#039; as Gov Eno hints on swapping PDP for APC - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/defection-akwa-ibomites-shout-no-as-gov-eno-hints-on-swapping-pdp-for-apc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Defection: Akwa Ibomites shout &#039;No&#039; as Gov Eno hints on swapping PDP for APC - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Myke Agunwa The residents of Akwa Ibom state have publicly declared their opposition by the state governor, Umo Eno, elected on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/defection-akwa-ibomites-shout-no-as-gov-eno-hints-on-swapping-pdp-for-apc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-06T09:56:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Akwa-Ibom-State-Governor-Umo-Eno-1024x685-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"685\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/defection-akwa-ibomites-shout-no-as-gov-eno-hints-on-swapping-pdp-for-apc\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/defection-akwa-ibomites-shout-no-as-gov-eno-hints-on-swapping-pdp-for-apc\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"Defection: Akwa Ibomites shout &#8216;No&#8217; 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