“...the coast is now clear for people-oriented governance“
By Ime Silas
The Chairman of Etinan Local Government Area, Hon. Uko Umoh has described the Supreme Court judgement on Thursday which affirmed the victory of His Excellency, Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State at the March 18, 2023 Gubernatorial election as victory for the entire people of the state.
It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Pastor Umo Eno who was the Gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as validly elected, having scored majority of the valid votes cast.
Dissatisfied with the declaration, candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Obong Akanimo Udofia; New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP), Sen. John James Akpanudoedehe; Young Progressives Party (YPP), Sen. (Obong) Bassey Albert and others had approached the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunals to challenge same.
Rulings of the tribunal in all the cases filed by the petitioners were in favour of the PDP and its candidate, Umo Eno. The matter went through the Appeal court up to the Supreme Court which delivered judgement today.
Reacting to the judgment, the Council Chairman in a message of felicitations he personally signed on behalf of the government and people of Etinan, a copy of which was sighted by our Correspondent noted that with the “…Supreme victory”, the coast was finally clear for the governor to focus and continue his people-oriented governance in the state.
Parts of the message read “On behalf of the Council and the entire people of Etinan Local Government Area, I, the Chairman, Hon. Uko Friday Umoh hereby write to felicitate with His Excellency, the governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno on the well-deserved judicial affirmation of the electoral victory which was freely and unanimously facilitated by the people of the state at last year’s polls.
As an individual who was actively involved in the electioneering processes that culminated in His Excellency’s landslide victory, I wasn’t perturbed as I was confident that no human machinations can upturn the collective wishes of the greater majority, especially when same has the blessing of the most High God”.
Commending the governor for, according to him, not yielding to the distractions of the multiple court cases, Hon. Uko Umoh added “…one leadership lesson I have learnt from His Excellency is the fact that he remained focused in the face of the unnecessary distractions.
“He was unmoved by the distractions of the unnecessary multiple court cases. With confidence and great determination, His Excellency, The Governor steadily focused on delivering on the responsibilities of his mandate as captured in his well-crafted A.R.I.S.E Agenda.
Today, the Supreme Court has affirmed your victory which was freely and unanimously facilitated by the people of Akwa Ibom State at last year’s gubernatorial poll. Within your few months in office, every facet of the state is experiencing the positive impacts of your government. This is indeed victory for the entire Akwa Ibom people.
With this Supreme Victory, I have full confidence that Akwa Ibom people will continue to benefit from your pragmatic and people-oriented governance…”