NSIKAK EKANEM
While the 23 local government councils in Rivers State have been boiling for the past two weeks over supremacy battle between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, it has been trouble after trouble in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area in neighbouring Akwa Ibom State.
Although Etim Ukpo shares borders with Abia and Rivers States, the political crisis erupting at the council is not creeping in from outside. Unlike Rivers, the Akwa Ibom State governor, Umo Eno, is not one of the factors either. Notwithstanding, the governor has stepped in as a prime factor in the quelling of the crisis.
The problem in Etim Ekpo borders on politics and governance. Although it has not attracted headlines in national dailies yet, if not averted, it could snowball into skirmishes that would put a slur on the existing peace in Akwa Ibom political landscape, following Eno’s apparent strong disposition to harmony, which sees him frowning at bipartisan antagonism.
Between 2017 and 2018, Etim Ekpo, along with Ukanafun and some parts of Oruk Anam local government areas, was embroiled in crisis perpetrated by criminal militant groups. The insurgency caused a groundswell of rural-urban migration as many residents in the affected communities abandoned their homes for dear life.
While the crime-induced upheavals were going on, over 200 lives were said to have been lost, just as property estimated to be at the range of a billion naira have also gone down the drain.
Although the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly made a resolution for the state government to initiate the processes of addressing the plight of the victims, nothing has been heard or done yet by the executive arm of the state government. The legislature’s resolution was sequel to a motion sponsored by the trio of Emem Udom, Sampson Idiong and Mfon Idung, who respectively represent Ukanafun, Oruk Anam and Etim Ekpo at the state legislative house.
The storm currently raging at Etim Ekpo, which could spill over to the rest part of Akwa Ibom, if not averted, is about the style of leadership effected at the local government council by Ekpuk Eshiet, the transition council chairman, who was appointed alongside others by the governor last December to administer the council. The tenure of the last elected local government officials in the state elapsed in December 2023 but, as it is common with state governments in Nigeria, the state electoral management body, the Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC) failed to conduct election.
The second source of trouble at Etim Ekpo is predicated on the next local government elections in the state, which has already been scheduled by AKISIEC for October 26. The trouble is the question of zoning, which was never a cause of debates, as it has since been a long established political culture in that locality. It is now becoming contentious.
Trouble regarding governance at Etim Ekpo came to the fore following Eno’s assignment to teams he set up to embark on fact-finding mission across the 31 local government areas in Akwa Ibom. The major report, though informally, coming out from the Etim Ekpo axis of the performance assessment tour has it that the trip led to a faceoff between Eshiet, the council chairman, and one Pentecost Paul, one of the supervisors at the council.
There was a showdown between Eshiet and Paul when the state government’s delegation led by Otobong Bob, a lawmaker representing Nsit Ubium in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, had a parley with the council officials. Problem started when Paul, who was then the supervisor in charge of information, openly accused Ekpuk of running the affairs of the council as a sole administrator, among other allegations.
Paul was also said to have faulted the chairman on certain projects the council boss claimed to have done and alleged that he had not been carrying other members of the Transition Council along, especially on matters concerning the disbursement of funds. Likely arising from the uncomplimentary remark on Eshiet, Paul became a victim of the fact-finding exercise on June 10.
Based on what was gathered from eye-witnesses’ account, Paul, whose name had never been Saul, had some sort of the-road-to-Damascus treatment in his political trip that Monday. As learnt, he was almost lynched by “boys” alleged to be at the beck and call of the council chairman. Although Pentecost Paul remains alive through what has been adduced to be a kind of miracle associated with Pentecostalism, he was seriously wounded and his mobile phone damaged.
In a telephone conversation with this reporter, Paul confirmed the incidents and revealed that he was hospitalized in undisclosed hospital in Akwa Ibom. As part of the continuation of the squabble, the latter has since been stripped of the portfolio of information supervisor by the council boss.
On the grounds that the council boss is an appointee of the governor, some political observers have been expecting Eno to send Eshiet parking from the office. Sources close to the camp of the council boss and Paul disclosed in separate conversations with this reporter that while those displeased with the situation were making efforts to prevail on the governor and the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly to ensure punitive actions were taken against Ekpuk, other topnotch politicians are alleged to be embarking on the frenzied effort to shield the public from having knowledge of the incidents.
Effort to reach Eshiet at the time of filing this report at the weekend was unsuccessful, as he did not respond to several telephone calls and messages sent to him through phone.
On politics of the council poll, zoning, which has since come to stay in the political lexicon of Nigeria, has reared its head, whether beautiful or ugly, at Etim Ekpo. The chairmanship position has been rotated in the locality among five clans of Ikono, Obong, Utit Annang, Utu and Uruk. Although there is no language and cultural barrier among the clans, the clan segmentation has indicated redlines that could only be ignored to the peril of peace at the whole of the local government area.
Until recently, it was considered a given for Uruk to produce the next chairman to square up with other clans which had taken turns in clinching the position twice. But it is now feared that some political leaders are bent on thwarting the zoning arrangement by depriving Uruk, which had only been in the chairman’s office only once so far (between 2003 and 2007).
It takes 15 to 17 years for each clan to have its chance, hence depriving a clan its slot at its time portends a dangerous setback for the affected clan. The calculation is that if Uruk takes its turn in the next election, the resulting balancing will enhance next cycle of rotation to commence with another clan in election expected to come in 2027.
Following fears arising from some scheming, purportedly to edge out Uruk from utilizing its turn, there have been series of protest against the perceptive move. Protesters had penultimate weekend stormed the palace of the paramount ruler of Etim Ekpo, His Royal Majesty Amanam Udoh.
With over 200 men and women of Etim Ekpo origin, comprising those residing in the community, Port Harcourt, Aba and Uyo, whose ages appeared to be between 25 and 65, the protesters used over ten 16-seater buses in touring different places in the local government area, with their final bus stop being the palace of the paramount ruler, where they displayed placards bearing various inscriptions that called on the governor to intervene to ensure zoning is not scuttled.
Although the protest, which enjoyed police permission and protection, was peaceful, it has heightened political tension. With remnants of the 2017/1018 carnage, which was occasioned by widespread politically motivated assassinations, including clash between militant youths and traditional rulers, banditry, kidnappings, armed robbery and vandalization, there are fears that some unscrupulous elements may cash in on the situation to foment more trouble.
In fact, checks by SUNDAY INDEPENDENT at the weekend revealed that several groups pursuing the zoning cause for Uruk clan have sprout out. Uruk Emmancipation Vanguard (UEV) has been issuing statement one after another for zoning to be sustained with Uruk taking its turn in the election. There is Uruk Progressive and Development Forum, which was not heard of until recently.
Another one, which tends to be mimicking the forerunner political association set up by immediate past governor, Udom Emmanuel, to usher in his successor has the name “Maintain Peace For Etim Ekpo (MP4EE)”.
The one at the state level in the build-up to 2023 General Election was called Maintain Peace Movement (MPM) and was headed by Emmanuel Enoidem, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who hails from Etim Ekpo. The senior lawyer is at the heat of the political struggle, as so many figures, though hardly in the open, pointed to his direction as the one about to thwart zoning at his home local government area.
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT at the weekend sighted a statement by the MP4EE sensationally titled, “ETIM EKPO LGA ON THE PATH TO ANOTHER WAR OVER CHAIRMANSHIP ZONING”.
While the governor’s take on the question of good or bad governance under the watch of Eshiet is yet to be made public, the political imbroglio over the zoning question caused the governor to have a meeting on Tuesday with some Etim Ekpo leaders who were of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) family. At the meeting, the governor was said to have instructed political gladiators at the local government to sheathe their swords pending the PDP’s releases zoning formulae for chairmanship position for the 31 local government councils.
In terms of land mass and population, Etim Ekpo may be one of the smallest local government areas in Akwa Ibom, but given what is happening at the moment, it is one local government with many troubles. If the notion that the whole is not safe when and where a part of the whole is affected is given consideration, then Akwa Ibom may not be as peaceful as it is being portrayed at the moment.