Gov. Udom Throws Weight Behind Akanimo Udofia’s Gubernatorial Ambition

The march towards the next series of elections in Nigeria is raising enough dust to bury all potential losers under. In Akwa Ibom, the query of the identity of his preferred successor (which has long been submitted to Governor Udom Emmanuel’s table) has reportedly gotten an answer: Akanimo Udofia. How valuable is Governor Emmanuel’s alleged support? That is the question.

Interestingly, the other person who has been asked the same question on behalf of the veterans in Akwa Ibom politics, former Governor Godswill Akpabio, has also been supportive of Akanimo Udofia. However, a handful of folks have stated that Akpabio’s alleged choice has more to do with his dislike of the alternative choice (the current national secretary of the APC caretaker committee, Senator John Akpaudoedehe) than the merits of Udofia.

The game of politics is a sentimental one, so one cannot take oaths on behalf of this politician or that. Nevertheless, Governor Udom Emmanuel has shown that he is reliable, meaning that whoever he supports is more likely to be reliable than otherwise. Or so people think. And the man himself—Udofia?
The well-to-do CEO of Desicon Engineering Limited has not presented himself on any platform as a politician, much less a potential gubernatorial candidate. However, several coalitions have sprung up in recent weeks requesting that he do so for the sake of the progress of Akwa Ibom.

A youth coalition said it wanted Udofia because he could be “a governor whom the people can look up from his past and current development drive and economic pursuits and connections within and around the nation and the world…a detribalized Akwa Ibomite, a national and internationally known and recognised figure who could break even at any stage in the world for the good of the State.” Is this what even Governor Udom Emmanuel thinks of Udofia? Is that why Governor Emmanuel allegedly approved of his supposed intention to succeed him?