As the race for the Hilltop Mansion gathers momentum, a frontline governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom, Pastor Umo Eno has solicited the support and the endorsement of the party in the forthcoming party primaries.
Pastor Eno promised to consolidate on Governor Emmanuel’s legacies of peace and prosperity in the State if voted into office in 2023. The Commissioner for Lands and Water Resources who stated this while consulting the party at the State Secretariat of PDP in Uyo on Tuesday, 8th February 2022, promised not to disappoint the party if nominated as the party flag bearer in the 2023 governorship election, promising to build on governor Emmanuel’s industrialization and infrastructural renaissance.
“Since it has pleased God to use Governor Emmanuel to bring me out and endorse me as his successor, my simple mission is to further legacies of peace and prosperity in Akwa Ibom State.
“I will build on the legacy Governor Emmanuel has put in place such as the roads, various industries and he has opened up the business space in Akwa Ibom State making… Akwa Ibom the second state in the country with the foreign direct investment. I believe that there’s a need to build on the legacies he has built,” Pastor Umo Eno stated
Going down memory lane, Pastor Eno called how he relocated from Lagos to Akwa Ibom in 1995 because of his believe in Akwa Ibom spirit and established a small business (the Royalty Hotels) which has since grown to become a conglomerate with different branches across the country as well as employed over five hundred Akwa Ibom indigenes as staff.
“My salary bills every month is over twenty-five million naira (N25,000,000) and there is no month I have not paid that salary. These I have done not with government fund. I have not occupied any elective office before in the state. I know how to create jobs. I know how to do business. I know how to manage people,” Umo Eno assured.
He vowed to create more job opportunity for the teeming unemployed Akwa Ibom youths.
Hear him, “I’ll do this by exploiting our tourism potentials. Our governor has shown us the way through the establishment of Ibom Air. Also, we have the longest shore line in the country but the longest shoreline is lying waste but that will no more happen. We will pay more attention to that to further expand our tourism potentials”.
He noted that as a former Director of Agric Investment in the State, he knows how to create job through agriculture and also cultivate enough food for Akwa Ibomites. While promising to establish fish canning factory in Oro Nation to control fish wastage, Pasto Eno also assured the party that if giving the opportunity, his administration will also ensure rural development and provision of basic amenities in the rural areas.
“Governor Udom Emmanuel is an entrepreneur, a business man and there are many things he would wish to do which time will not permit him but he has open up the space for us to explore. So, Mr. Chairman I believe with your support and that of the entire Akwa Ibom people we can move the state to the next level,” he declared.
He announced the donation of 10 horse power air conditioner to the party in the state.
Presenting the aspirants to the party, the Former Ambassador to Russia, Ambassador Assam Assam (SAN) said Pastor Umo Eno is a strong aspirant with pedigree, proven integrity with a track record as a successful business man, entrepreneur and astute administrator who will be able to win the 2023 governorship election for the party.
Assam added that Pastor Eno has what it takes to win election for the party and solicited the party’s endorsement of the aspirant.
Also speaking, the National Chairman, Maintain Peace Movement, MPM, Barr Emmanuel Enoidem described Umo Eno as a flawless and blameless politician that has not soiled his hands in anyway. The former PDP National Legal Adviser maintained that Pastor Eno will be the best candidate for the party and the right successor of Governor Emmanuel come 2023.
Responding, the State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Rt Hon Elder Aniekan Akpan, said the party will be fair to all aspirants, describing Pastor Umo Eno as a man who has regards for the party and thanked him for his generosity to the party, assuring that the party will listen to the voices and wish of Akwa Ibom people and align accordingly.
