Whispers Around Udom and Eno

Political rumours travel in Nigeria like afternoon thunderstorms, sudden and full of noise. In Akwa Ibom, the latest storm whispers that Governor Umo Eno and his predecessor, Udom Emmanuel, no longer walk in step. The gossip has texture, but does it have truth?

Eno insists no. He repeats it like a refrain: Emmanuel is his political father, mentor, and steady hand in the background. Without him, he says, there would be no seat, no title, no chance to steer Akwa Ibom’s future. Gratitude is woven into every answer he gives.

The governor’s recent defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ignited the chatter. Emmanuel, after all, is a loyal PDP man, and politics in Nigeria is rarely gentle about crossovers. Yet Eno waves off the drama. Politics, he argues, is dynamic. Decisions bend with the times.

More than once, he has drawn soft metaphors. A father may raise children, he says, but grown ones still choose their own paths. The point is almost biblical in tone: respect does not demand permanent agreement. In his telling, there is no quarrel, only shifting duties.

The theatre continues offstage. At church anniversaries, at Lagos gatherings, the pair are seen together. Smiles. Warmth. Stories that sound like family. “I was in his house last week,” Eno told one audience, reminding them that distance is not the same as discord.

Still, perception is stubborn. To the public, a change of party feels like betrayal, no matter the explanations. Voters look for fracture lines, even when leaders insist the foundation is intact. Perhaps suspicion is its own kind of political oxygen.

So the whispers roll on. Maybe they fade tomorrow, maybe they deepen. For now, Eno is unshaken, Emmanuel is silent, and the people lean in, wondering whether this is harmony disguised as discord or discord dressed as harmony. Politics, after all, has a way of playing tricks.