By Becky Adi
Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has reiterated that he has no intention of running a surrogate leadership after his tenure in 2023.
Besides, he said he was not ready to arrogate to himself the powers of a godfather upon the emergence of a new governor in 2023.
Emmanuel stated this while playing host to the leadership of a foremost Akwa Ibom-based socio-political group, Ibom Patriots, who were at the Government House, Uyo, on a solidarity visit to declare their support to Mr Umo Eno as the preferred aspirant in the 2023 gubernatorial elections.
He said: “The era of godfatherism in politics is gone in Akwa Ibom. It is government of the people for the people and by the people.
“God is interested in the people and God is about the people. We are going into an era when power has changed hand into the hand of the Holy Spirit, so that no man can boast that I did this or I did that.
“I will never arrogate to myself that kind of power. You’ll never hear me even one day say to even a councillor, I made you a Councillor.
“All power belongs to God. It is God who makes people what they are, not man. So we must not arrogate such powers to ourselves.”
Recollecting the memories of crisis moments while in office, Emmanuel said he was confident that God must have chosen him to lead the state in the season for a reason.
He asserted that he has done his best to serve the state within his tenure and expressed optimism that his successor will build on what he has done and even surpass his record when he emerges,
“Before I came, who knew that we will go through what we went through in that period of recession. It’s only God who knew what was going to be ahead and made me to be here. Today, even if Akwa Ibom people do not appreciate it, I think the whole world can beat their chest and say this guy has not done badly.
“I know the sacrifices we made, I know what it took and I know how much we did to be where we are today. I also believe the person coming will do much better than I have done.”
Affirming that Eno has the required humility for the service of the state, he said: “Nobody can serve 7.2 million people if you are not humble at heart. If you are a proud person you cannot serve the people because at some points, there will be need to play the fool and it takes a humble person to play the fool so that peace might reign.”
Remarking, the Chancellor of Ibom Patriots and leader of the delegation, Obong Bassey Inuaeyen, said the group was fully behind Governor Emmanuel not just for the office, but as a Grand Patron of the group and expressed confidence in the Umo Eno project as being in the best interest of the state, especially to further the peace and prosperity established by the present administration.
Inuaeyen, therefore, on behalf of Ibom Patriots, called on people to desist from all sorts of personal attacks on the governor on social media platforms, describing the office of the governor as representing the collective dignity of Akwa Ibom people.
