Akwa Ibom: Gov Umo Eno plans SEC dissolution

…Explains respect for Senate President

…Says people misread my body language

Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has announced plans to dissolve the State Executive Council and Boards at a future date, acknowledging that both are due for restructuring.

While Governor Eno did not specify when the dissolution will occur, he hinted at organizing a valedictory dinner for the cabinet members beforehand.

Speaking during a media interaction on Saturday, part of the activities commemorating the 37th anniversary of Akwa Ibom’s creation, Eno stressed the importance of choosing the right moment for these changes. The dissolution is expected to mark a significant shift in the administration’s strategy as the state moves forward under his leadership.

His words, “As a leader you must understand when to act and when not to act. Boards are due for dissolution, there is no doubt about that. We will dissolve all of them whether statutory or non-statutory boards.

” I know that we should dissolve both the boards and the State Executive Council (EXCO). I mean, 16 months into a new administration, you need to rejig the system. And members of the EXCO know that we will rejig the system. But I want to promise them that we will not do it as a surprise.

” I will hold a valedictory dinner for my EXCO to thank them for the work they have done because they have served the state well. Some of them have been there for three administrations in a row, some of them were my colleagues in the last administration.

” So you don’t just wake up in the morning and say that the EXCO is dissolved. We’ll do them the honour of having a valedictory dinner with them and then we dissolve the Exco.

“We have to make sure we look for the appropriate time. Since I am on the driver’s seat, I think I know when to take that bend. That’s all I can say about that question”

Asked how his robust relationship with the All Progressives Congress (APC) government at the center, particularly the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio has benefitted Akwa Ibom, governor Eno regretted that some of the citizens were already accusing him of plotting to defect to the APC.

He reiterated that he is working for his party the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), even as he declared he would continue to respect Senator Godswill Akpabio as an indigene of the State appointed the number three citizen of the country.

Eno explained that the first thing Akwa Ibom gets from building a robust relationship with government at the center was the existing peace, adding, “Maybe that’s why some people feel that I am neither here nor there. I am a PDP person, and I am working for PDP.

“And as a state we will continue to support the party, but we must differentiate between party issues and governance issues. We are going for local government election now, and I am working for my party, the PDP. We are campaigning, and we’ll win.

“Some people accuse me of having body language. I don’t have a body language, you misread me. I am working for PDP and we have shown the people that we can be trusted. There is no local government that we are not doing something in this state.

” I want voters to be the ones to decide; to compare what we are doing to what we are saying and look at what is left. I am not raised up to be the kind of politician that makes a lot of noise, that go about insulting people and creating a fight.

” If we start that, let us not forget that the other party has people that can make that trouble and the state becomes ungovernable, and we have issues everywhere. You must know the nature of the kind of leader you have elected. By the grace of God, if I put my mind on doing anything, I achieve it”

Continuing he noted that tike would come when the people would start to understand why the collaboration with the Senate President and the government at the center was necessary.

“Let’s continue to maintain a cordial relationship, let’s continue to respect the people that God has put in charge of us. I have tremendous amount of respect for the Senate President, and I will continue to do so. That does not mean that we don’t disagree when it gets to party issues.

“The truth is, it does not matter the party. To be the number three citizen in the country is not something you just take for granted. We are blessed as a people and I can tell you that a day will come and I will tell you what this collaboration is doing for us. That is why we collaborate with people,” Eno asserted