In what is turning into a sort of political family feud, Akwa Ibom Governor, Udom Emmanuel has sacked the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Etekamba Umoren in a bid to weaken estranged godfather, Godswill Akpabio’s political influence.
Governor Emmanuel on Monday sacked Mr. Umoren, who was nominated into the cabinet by Mr. Akpabio, the Senate Minority Leader.
This is not the first casualty from the Udom/Akpabio war as the then commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, Udo Ekpenyong was also sacked about two weeks ago.
The official reason given for the sacking was to “rejig the governance structure” in the state.
But the fact that the sacked officials, Mr. Ekpenyong and Mr. Umoren, are from the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District where Mr. Akpabio comes from has raised eyebrows.
According to political analysts in the state, it is believed that the onslaught will not end here and that Governor Emmanuel is likely to remove more people from the government in order to weaken Mr. Akpabio’s structure and influence as the governor seeks re-election in 2019.
Umoren meanwhile has been replaced by Emmanuel Ekuwem, a renowned telecom engineer from Mbo Local Government Areas.
The Akpabio/Udom has been raging for a while but only became public knowledge in December when the senator said in a public gathering that the governor has neglected Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.
This is far from the friendly relationship the two used to share as Mr. Akpabio was the man responsible for bringing Governor Emmanuel to the state and who also made him his successor despite very vocal dissent from the PDP.