Ahead of the 5, October Local Government (LG) elections in Akwa Ibom State, two serving commissioners have resigned their appointments to contest for the chairmanship seats in their respective Local Government Areas (LGA).
Those who resigned include the Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources, Chief Etim Uno from Urueoffong Oruko LGA and Mr Aniefiok Nkom, Commissioner for Labour and Manpower Planning from Ikot Ekpene LGA.
The duo in the statewide Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries held on 2 August secured the party tickets to contest the chairmanship for their respective LGs, emerging
among 31 Chairmanship candidates on the platform of the PDP for the coming polls.
Their decision to contest the local government council chairmanship seats and their subsequent nomination has been generating debates within the political circle in the state.
While some see the development as a smart move to remain active in the system ahead of the alleged looming sack of cabinet members by Governor Umo Eno, others argue that both commissioners were lured to resign by the greed to enjoy increased allocations flowing into council coffers following local government financial autonomy.
A PDP insider and civil servant who spoke on anonymity alleged, “Maybe before the end of the month they would leave office completely. I think they just want to go and enjoy LG’s financial autonomy. They still want to remain in government “
Vanguard gathered from sources privy to what transpired ahead of the PDP nominations that stakeholders from both LGAs had written to the party leadership that they actually wanted the two commissioners to represent them in the coming LG Chairmanship poll.
Aligning with this opinion, State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Boronno Bassey affirmed, “They are two Commissioners contesting for Chairmanship seats in the forthcoming LG election. They are the Commissioner for Environment, Chief Etim Uno and Aniefiok Nkom from Ikot Ekpene LGA.
“You can quote me on this. It was the people of Ikot Ekpene and Urueoffong Oruko local government areas who wrote calling on the Commissioners to run for the Chairmanship seats.
“The Governor and leader of the party now said if your people are calling on you to come and represent them, please go and ensure you initiate and execute robust development projects at the grassroots as you have done in your respective ministries.
“So it is their people who called them to come and contest. And it was like a carnival on that day of the nomination in both Urueoffong Oruko and Ikot Ekpene LGAs. The people were happy and excited “
Former presidential adviser and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Sen Ita Enang alleged the resigned commissioners were being driven by greed to take over and feast on LG funds.
Enang said, “We’ve seen commissioners resigning to go for LG Chairmanship. As far as my knowledge of governance is concerned, being a commissioner and member of the State Executive Council is higher than being a local government chairman.”
He noted that under the previous administration, LG chairmen were receiving far fewer funds, but “no one can see what they (current LGs) have done with the money”, alleging the commissioners’ move is driven by “greed” as they want to “feast on the increased money that now comes to the LGAs.”
