Former Akwa Ibom governor, Udom Emmanuel, has stated categorically that he will not be contesting for senate in the 2027 election, despite pressures from politicians in the state. Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting on Christmas Day at his country home in ONNA LGA, Emmanuel stressed that he was more interested in promoting peace and harmonious coexistence amongst Akwa Ibom people than contesting elections.
He asked community leaders and the youths to remain vigilant against external threats to peace in the state. ‘’Let me use this opportunity to make it clear to all that I will not be seeking the nomination of my party, PDP, or any other party for the senate seat. I am a man of my words. I don’t go back to what I said, both in secret and in open’’, he announced, eliciting applause from the audience that included the incumbent senator. The former governor, however, noted that he’s not yet retired from politics, and should he seek to contest for any other position, he would inform the people appropriately.
Emmanuel’s categorical denial of the rumours that have been swirling around his political future has put paid to widely held speculations that he was raring to fight for the ticket against the incumbent, Senator Ekong Sampson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals. ‘’I thank our leader and former governor for being a decent gentleman who does not want to break the zoning accord; political harmony and peace we have in the senatorial district. He is truly a man of integrity’’, Senator Sampson told me soon after the stakeholders’ meeting. Sampson himself has earned his stripes in grass root politics, law and journalism. He began his career as a journalist in Lagos in the early 1990s, and has since earned a Ph.D in law, in addition to a public service career.
For months since leaving office, Udom Emmanuel has been under pressure to run for the Akwa Ibom South Senatorial seat. Right from 2023 when he completed his eight-year tenure as the fourth democratically elected governor of the state, there were rumours that he was heading for the Senate. But instead, the banker-turned politician contested for Presidential nomination of the PDP in May 2022, to the surprise of many in the state. He got 38 votes, coming after Atiku Abubarkar who won 371 votes; Nyesome Wike (237 votes) and Bukola Saraki (70 votes). Failing to clinch the ticket, Emmanuel turned his eyes on the VP slot, but the position went to Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. Since then, Emmanuel has slid quietly into private life, satisfied that the person he anointed to succeed him as governor, Pastor Umo Eno, had gotten the job.
However, with 2025 around the corner and preparations for another election season looming, many politicians in the state have continued to pile pressure on the former governor to throw his hat into the ring. ‘’Many of them want Udom to run because they know that as a former governor, he has the resources to spend. They’re professional politicians who live on elections; every election cycle, they will approach people they assess to be rich and try to cajole them to contest and the next thing is that they will give you a well-written proposal on ‘How to Win election’’’, said a PDP chieftain from that district. This could be a correct, but I understand that the former governor is restrained largely by the strict zoning arrangement in the senatorial district which has remained in force since 1999 when Udoma Udo Udoma was elected Senator and the incumbent senator served as his legislative page. For this season, the seat remains in Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency where the incumbent senator, Ekong Sampson, a former Local government chairman; former member of House of Assembly and a former commissioner comes from.
Udom Emmanuel’s declaration is not only a lesson to other politicians, especially former governors who see the Senate as a retirement home, it also has a wider implication for the politics of 2027 in Akwa Ibom State. His decision to stay aloof will lessen the acrimony within the ruling party and give him the latitude to devote more time for the reelection of his political godson, Gov. Umo Eno. It is also likely that Senator Godswill Akpabio will not face any internal challenge within the APC for the Ikot Ekpene senatorial district seat. However, for Uyo Senatorial District, there are indications that Senator Aniekan Bassey will have to battle for a second term nomination with other PDP heavyweights.