2023: How the Battle for Oro’s Soul was Won and Lost
A writer’s ringside narrative of the twists and turns of the crowded House of Representatives’ race in Oron/Udung Uko/Urue Offong Oruko/Mbo/Okobo Federal Constituency, apparently the toughest in the state, which ended on Sunday in victory for the youngest aspirant, Marins Esin, a senior manager with Dangote conglomerate, over his closest opponent, Bobby Onofiok, a USA-based Oro leader, and nine others including a renowned pediatrician, a popular musician, a sitting state legislator, a female oil company manager, a top state PDP executive, a former local government chairman and a NIMASA director
“Oro needs a representative with a track record of community service prior to this aspiration. He must be someone who has garnered the needed exposure and interconnectivity.”
-Prince Chris Abasi-Eyo, Former Chairman of Oro Think Tank and Member-elect of House of Representatives (February-July 1998)
A 35-year-old senior manager with Dangote conglomerate, Nigeria’s second highest employer of labour after the Federal Government, Martins Etim Esin, has won the House of Representatives’ race in Oron/Udung Uko/Urue Offong Oruko/Mbo/Okobo Federal Constituency or Oro Nation, Akwa Ibom’s third largest ethnic group. Martins won 79 of the total 155 votes, beating the Chairman of Board of Trustees of Akwa Ibom State Association of Nigeria (AKISAN), USA, and National President of the Oron Development Union (ODU) USA, Bobby Otu Onofiok, 46, to second place with 62 votes.
The PDP State Vice Chairman for Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District, Godwin Okponung (Call Dog), also 46, finished third with 11 votes. A popular musician, Christopher Esin (Mr. Xto), scored one vote.
Martins’ victory did not come easy. The contest in the constituency, the biggest in Akwa Ibom State, appeared to have been the toughest among all 10 federal constituencies of the state.
One, there was a whopping number of 11 aspirants in the race, the highest in the state.
And two, there was and there is still so much at stake. The winner of the primary of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) held yesterday, May 22, 20222, would have an unenviable task ahead of him if he wins the general election next year. There would be so much to grapple with. The constituents would expect the would-be representative to perform magic at this critical time of Oro’s history and economy. He would have his work cut out: Push for the start of the Ibom Deep Seaport, for the upgrade of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria to a university in Oron Local Government Area (LGA), for the resuscitation of the Ebughu Fishing Terminal in Mbo LGA, for the recognition of Oro Nation as an oil-producing community and for the completion of the crayfish dryer project at Atabong in Okobo LGA.
As one Oro leader puts it, “that is our own Governor.”
Long before the primary, Barr. Omen Bassey, the convener of the Oro Leadership Roundtable, an intellectual power house, had set out the criteria for choice of representative: “We are not going to make our choice solely on account of an individual’s ability to present a beautiful manifesto with a sweet tongue. There must be something in your past that should assure us that you are indeed a community servant, a public-spirited person, a patriot and a man or woman of capacity.”
Omen eventually endorsed Martins and campaigned for him on the grounds that he had met the criteria.
Sadly, the contest came barely a month after the sudden death of the incumbent representative, Elder Nse Ekpenyong, who was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019.
The Aspirants
The directive by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP that only ad hoc delegates are eligible to vote in the primaries in line with the amended Electoral Act weakened the aspirants in Oro Nation, causing most of them to tacitly withdraw though only one formally did so. Another stayed away in protest.
Until the NWC directive, the 11 aspirants included a renowned pediatrician and Medical Director of Nedeke Children’s Hospital in Uyo, Dr. Bassey Edet Ntekim, 58, the Member representing Oron/Udung Uko State Constituency in the House of Assembly, Effiong Okon Bassey, 52, the Head of Community Relations of the Universal Energy Resources Limited, Dr. Arit Etim, 55, a Director in the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Kiniyi Edubio, the immediate past Chairman of Udung Uko Local Government (LG), Okon Esin Oku, 60, a businessman, Emmanuel Odohodi, 43, and a grassroots’ politician, Paul Eyo.
Also in the race were Martins, Bobby, Call Dog and Xto.
This writer was able to interact with all of them except Paul Eyo and Xto and their quality, coupled with passion to represent and serve Oro, was unmistakable.
The state leadership of PDP zoned the House of Representatives’ seat to Oron and Udung Uko LGAs, the only LGAs in Oro Nation that have not produced a representative since the return to democracy in 1999.
Four of the aspirants, Martins Esin, Effiong Bassey, Arit Etim and Paul Eyo, are from Oron while the rest are from Udung Uko.
*Profile of the Winner*
The victory of Martins did not come as a surprise. Even before the exclusion of statutory delegates from voting, he was clearly the front runner. He was reputed to be the only aspirant who had consulted practically all the statutory delegates, some twice. He deployed his huge financial war chest effectively, working as his own man. His supporters were confident of a landslide win.
The unexpected use of only ad hoc delegates changed the dynamics of the game and made him, like his closest opponent, dependent on the “owners” of the delegates since he did not produce any.
Martins holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Madonna University, Okija (2007) and a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (2014).
He joined Dangote conglomerate in 2009 as a customer services’ officer and rose to become Area Sales Manager for Akwa Ibom and Cross River States before his entry into the race.
Martins belongs to the prominent Esin family of Esin Ufot in Eyo Abasi Group of Villages in Oron LGA. The family has produced greats like late Dr. Esin Anwana Esin, Oro’s first medical doctor who was simultaneously a Senator and a Minister (1960-1966) during the First Republic, late Chief John Anwana Esin, a heavyweight politician in the Second and Third Republics who served in the cabinet of Governor Clement Isong in the old Cross River State, and his son, Etim Esin, a former international footballer.
The candidate’s own father, late Spencer Esin, was a Member of the House of Representatives in the aborted Third Republic (1992-1993).
Though this is his first personal electoral outing, Martins is said to have been one of the heaviest financiers of the PDP in the 2019 elections in Oro Nation, particularly Senator Akon Eyakenyi’s election.
“I have 13 years’ experience in the private sector that I am bringing into governance,” he says. “Having interacted with Nigerians in north, east, south and west, I think I can attract more development to my constituency.”
*Results of Previous Primaries*
The federal constituency has a chequered history of primaries.
In January 1999, a former State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Esio Oquong Udoh, was returned unopposed.
But he faced the battle of his political life during and after the December 2002 primary. His main challenger was the then Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Chief Peter Linus Umoh, who was the “anointed from above” aspirant. Ironically, both men were close friends whose friendship predated their tenure as Chairmen of Urue Offong/Oruko and Okobo LGs, respectively, between 1991 and 1993. After a grueling post-primary battle that lasted for three months, Esio triumphed.
Peter Linus, as he is popularly called, was to have his day in the sun in December 2006 when he won the PDP nomination. He beat a number of aspirants including a former Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi. Esio did not contest again and there was no “anointed from above” aspirant.
As an incumbent, Peter Linus sought the PDP ticket again in December 2010. But he was not in contention. The “anointed from above” aspirant was Dr. Asuquo Anwana, then the Chairman of Udung Uko LG and a former university don. But in an electoral upset, Robinson Uwak, then a 33-year-old Lagos-based businessman, from the same Okobo LGA as Peter Linus, defeated Anwana to clinch the ticket.
Four years later, Robinson, who was at loggerheads with then Governor Godswill Akpabio, could not re-enact the magic of beating the “anointed from above” aspirant, Nse Ekpenyong (Nse Bruce). Nse won. He was the “slot” of the state PDP in which he had served from 2008 to 2014, first as State Vice Chairman for Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District and later as State Deputy Chairman.
In September 2018, there was a role reversal. The tables turned. Nse lost anointing. Bishop Etim Ante was the “anointed from above” aspirant. But Nse proved the bookmakers wrong by winning.
*Forces at Play this Time*
Beyond the aspirants were powerful forces at play in yesterday’s primary.
In Oron LGA, the Political Leader and the most powerful force is clearly Eyakenyi, the Senator representing Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District in the Senate. She left no one in doubt about her power when she made her young son, Daniel, the national delegate in the May 10, 2022 PDP local government congress in Oron LGA despite hushed complaints.
Most other LGAs followed the established tradition of choosing their leaders or other heavyweights as national delegates. In Oro Nation, the other four national delegates chosen for the forthcoming May 28-29 2022 PDP National Convention in Abuja are a former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Ambassador Etim Okpoyo, who is officially the Political Leader of both Urue Offong/Oruko LGA and Oro Nation, the Political Leader of Udung Uko LGA, Mrs. Kenim Onofiok, the strongman of Mbo politics, Chief Eyo Okon Edet (Eyo Suang), and a former Vice Chairman of Okobo LG, Okokon Okpo.
The State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Orman Esin, the Oron PDP Chapter Chairman, Murphy Esin, and the Oron LG Chairman, Pastor Effiong Bassey Ubokulo, are all allied to Leader, as they fondly call Eyakenyi. She leads Governor Udom Emmanuel’s political machine, the Maintain Peace Movement (MPM,) in Oron and doubles as the MPM National Woman Leader.
Leading the opposition in Oron to Eyakenyi is Effiong Bassey, the state legislator.
In Udung Uko PDP, the major tendency (before the exclusion of statutory delegates from voting in the primaries) revolves around the LG Chairman, Prince Atanang Asuquo Osung, the LG Secretary, Victor Anwanakak, and a former Rivers State Administrative Secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Etim Umoh, whose wife is the LG Vice Chairman.
But there is a powerful tendency led by the Political Leader of Udung Uko LGA, and former Member of the State Civil Service Commission, Kenim Onofiok. Kenim, who is the MPM Coordinator in Udung Uko, is seeking to replace Bassey in the House of Assembly next year.
Rivalling her political leadership is Engr. Asuquo Idung, the Chairman of the Udung Uko PDP Elders’ Forum. Most of Kenim’s political opponents identify with Idung as the leader.
The seven House of Representatives’ aspirants from Udung Uko all had their tendencies. One of them, Call Dog, the PDP boss in Akwa Ibom Senatorial District, used to battle Kenim for political supremacy in Udung Uko with the support of the elders’ forum before the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the Chairman in 2020 created a third force.
The Paramount Ruler of Udung Uko LGA, Odidem Bassey Etim Edet, a veteran politician who served as elected Chairman of both Oron and Udung Uko LGs, remains a factor in Udung Uko politics.
And there is Ikpoto Okon Osung, a famed strategist, who has broken ranks with everyone else who matters in Udung Uko PDP to support Senator Bassey Albert Akpan against Pastor Umo Eno, Governor Udom Emmanuel’s heir-apparent and the favourite of most Udung Uko, nay Oro, leaders.
Instructively, Odohodi, the only aspirant who openly identified with OBA, boycotted the primary in protest.
The State Commissioner for Transport, Chief Uno Etim Uno, is the dominant politician in Urue Offong/Oruko. He has shied away from declaring himself the Political Leader, preferring to defer to Okpoyo, his elder cousin. But there is no doubt where real power lies.
The commissioner’s long-running rival for political supremacy in the area is the LG Chairman, Mrs. Precious Selong. She won the House of Assembly nomination on Sunday despite initial opposition by Uno who was similarly opposed to her chairmanship aspiration in 2017 till her “anointing from above” became obvious.
The incumbent Assembly Member, Asuquo Archibong (Poison), who used to be a staunch ally of Precious, is said to have switched side to Uno who coordinates the MPM in Urue Offong/Oruko.
In Mbo, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, is the Political Leader. He leads the main tendency in Mbo PDP which also comprises key players like the LG Chairman, Asukwo Eyo, the MPM/Umo Eno Team for Governor Campaign Spokesman and former Commissioner for Information, Prince Chris Abasi-Eyo, and the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Skill Acquisition Centre Projects, Mrs. Alice Ekpenyong.
Ekuwem coordinates the MPM in Mbo. His main rival for political supremacy in the area since 2020 has been Eyo Suang, a wealthy Oron-based petroleum marketer, hotelier and political financier. Eyo, who is the MPM Deputy National Director of Protocol, enjoys the support of the Mbo PDP Chapter Chairman, Etetim Isemin.
Since 2014 Okobo has witnessed intense political rivalry between the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Princess Felicia Bassey, and the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, Barr. Ekpenyong Ntekim,. It started right from their days as LG Chairman and Commissioner when they sought the Assembly and governorship seats, respectively.
None of them is contesting anything this time but they positioned themselves to play kingmaking roles in the House of Assembly and House of Representatives’ races. Ntekim enjoys the loyalty of the LG Chairman, Dr. Sylvester Attah, who is his cousin, and the PDP Chapter Chairman, Eteka Ukpong.
On the other hand, Felicia controls the MPM structure as the Okobo Coordinator.
The “Anointed from Above” Aspirants
By the revised PDP nomination timetable, both the House of Assembly and House of Representatives’ primaries held yesterday.
There was not much contest in the House of Assembly primaries. By yesterday morning, it became manifest that it was a concluded matter even before voting started in the afternoon.
The four Oro “anointed from above” aspirants, Chief Effiong Johnson (Mbo), Mrs. Kenim Onofiok (Oron/Udung Uko), Mrs. Precious Selong (Urue Offong/Oruko) and Bassey Pius Bassey (Okobo), were nominated without much ado.
Before the anointing, tough contests were probable in all four constituencies.
The House of Assembly primaries were expected to serve as a dress rehearsal of the House of Representatives’ primary which followed in quick succession same day. A bandwagon effect was anticipated. Whoever and whichever tendency won the House of Assembly primaries were projected to carry the momentum into the House of Representatives’ primary.
In Oron/Udung Uko State Constituency, Kenim was backed by the incumbent, Bassey, but was opposed by Eyakenyi and the three Esin cousins (Orman, Murphy and Martins) who prefered Effiong Idung, son of the Udung Uko PDP Elders’ Forum Chairman. The third major aspirant was a retired permanent secretary, Barr. Mary Ewa, who was previously the “anointed from above” aspirant. Most House of Representatives’ aspirants from Udung Uko supported her.
The primary in Urue Offong/Oruko State Constituency was essentially a two-horse race between Precious Selong, the Chairman, and Tom Efomburu, a former Councillor, backed by Uno. Shortly before the exercise, Uno acquiesced to the choice of Precious while Tom stayed away. Five aspirants still tried their luck by participating in the primary.
It was equally a straight fight in Okobo State Constituency though there were seven aspirants. Ntekim supported Attah, the Chairman, while Felicia backed Bassey, a former Special Assistant to the Governor.
Things were more complicated in Mbo State Constituency. Ekuwem was the force behind a former LG Caretaker Committee Chairman, Solomon Effiong, while Eyo Suang threw his weight behind Mbo’s representative in the PDP State Executive Committee, Sunday Okon Etim.
Effiong Johnson, the incumbent Member who just returned from the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), was on his own.
In the last couple of days, there was talk of similar “anointing from above” in the House of Representatives’ race with Call Dog said to be the beneficiary. It was unclear if the talk was true. But one thing was palpable: Call Dog enjoyed the sympathy of the powerful Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Frank Archibong. And that was understandable as both men have been close associates right from their days as disciples of late Pastor Oyong Asuquo, the charismatic Oro politician and philanthropist, who was the Commissioner for Youth and Sports before his death in 2012.
But if the anointing was true, it came too late, given the fact that the key leaders who should have enforced it in the field had long taken what appeared to be irrevocable positions behind their favourite aspirants.
*A Proxy War?*
By yesterday morning, it was a near consensus among Oro analysts that the primary had narrowed to a photo-finish between Martins and Bobby. They postulated that either of them could win.
Beyond their individual efforts, the contest had turned to a test of strength among their powerful backers. It was increasingly looking like a proxy war.
*An Exclusive Ad Hoc Delegates’ Affair*delegates. Until the April 30, 2022 ward congresses to elect ad hoc delegates, statutory delegates were the only delegates known. Saturday’s sudden exclusion of statutory delegates from voting in the primaries made nonsense of all their work.
On Sunday, they were at the mercy of ad hoc delegates who they did not reckon with until the previous day. But it was not their fault. Between Thursday and Saturday, there were speculations and confusion about the status of ad hoc delegates as a result of the “maintain status quo” conundrum foisted on the PDP in Akwa Ibom by the Federal High Court, Abuja. In an ironic twist of fate, ad hoc delegates turned out to be the only delegates in all the primaries.
*The Real Kingmakers*
In Oro Nation, the stark reality was that the real kingmakers were practically the five MPM Coordinators – Eyakenyi (Oron), Kenim (Udung Uko), Uno (Urue Offong/Oruko), Ekuwem (Mbo) and Felicia (Okobo).
They “own” most of the delegates who emerged through their influence and backing. Consequently, the fate of the House of Representatives’ aspirants was completely in their hands.
Unlike the House of Assembly races, things were far more intricate in the House of Representatives’ contest. Realpolitik, driven by cold calculations, came into play. The kingmakers were almost evenly split. Ekuwem and Felicia backed Bobby while Eyakenyi and Uno supported Martins. Kenim preferred Effiong Bassey until yesterday.
The Projected Vote Tally
All five LGAs of Oro Nation have 10 wards each, meaning that each has 30 ad hoc delegates and one national delegate. This sums up to 155 delegates in all.
Of the five MPM coordinators, only two, Eyakenyi and Felicia, influenced the election of all 30 ad hoc delegates in their respective LGAs of Oron and Okobo.
Ekuwem, Uno and Kenim reportedly made concessions (10) to their respective secretaries, Eyo Suang, Precious and Call Dog.
In the likely vote tally, as projected by this writer yesterday morning before voting commenced in the evening, Eyakenyi was expected to deliver all 31 Oron votes to Martins. All 31 Urue Offong/Oruko votes were projected to go to Martins due to the fact that both Uno and Precious supported him despite their local political differences. Martins could also count on the 11 votes Eyo Suang could bring from Mbo. If the delegates from those three LGAs voted as expected, Martins needed just five votes from Udung Uko to secure the winning number of 78 to stop his rival from equalling or surpassing his votes.
On the other hand, Felicia was likely to deliver all 30 Okobo votes to Bobby. Additionally, Bobby counted on 20 Mbo votes from Ekuwem.
If Call Dog had stepped down and swung his 10 delegates either way, he would have emerged a kingmaker. But he insisted on contesting despite not having any chance of winning. In the end, he scored 11 votes, meaning that he gained just one additional vote.
Kenim, with her 21 votes (including her vote as a national delegate), decided the nomination. As the beautiful bride courted by both sides, she had two plain choices before her on Sunday morning. One choice was to consider home first by dropping her opposition to her in-law, Bobby, and pairing with him. But she needed the Oron votes to win the House of Assembly primary. That was probably the reason she supported Effiong Bassey from the start instead of any of the aspirants from Udung Uko who were not in any position to help her. But with the reality that Bassey no longer had votes to give her, her second option was to consider herself first by dumping the incumbent Member, who was effectively out of the race anyway, and negotiating with Eyakenyi and her ally, Orman, to switch support to Martins in return for their support. Idung, Kenim’s opponent in the Assembly race, derived his strength from Eyakenyi who initially supportied Mary Ewa.
Finally, Kenim chose the second option.
A Repeat of History
History repeated itself. What happened in yesterday’s battle for the soul of Oro was a throwback to nearly exactly the same situation close to 20 years ago.
It was the December 2002 primary. Then, National Assembly primaries were decentralized to different LGAs and not held in a single venue unlike now. In the chaotic primary, characterized by hijacking of nomination materials, Peter Linus took Okobo and Mbo while Esio took Urue Offong/Oruko and Udung Uko. Oron went to Dr. Friday Antai, from the same Okobo as Peter Linus, thanks to his chief supporter, Oyong Asuquo. Oyong had the momentum on his side in the mother LGA as the PDP Chairmanship Candidate.
But after the primary, there was nothing Oyong could do with Antai’s votes than to horse trade. With Esio and Peter Linus having almost equal votes, Oyong broke the logjam by “donating” Antai’s votes to the then Speaker. That enabled Peter Linus to be declared winner of the primary in Uyo. He eventually lost the ticket to Esio in Abuja.
Yesterday, Kenim played Oyong’s role of 2002.
*The Final Lobby of the Godmothers*
With the figures dicey, Eyakenyi, a former teacher, and Felicia, a former policewoman, descended into the fray in the early hours of Sunday morning. It became a battle of the two election battle-tested godmothers, both in their early 60s, as they virtually took over the campaigns of the two young aspirants who were election greenhorns. It was as if they were the ones contesting.
Eyakenyi opened talks with Kenim and struck a deal that morning. But she did not rest on her oars. The Senator was on her feet at the Oron Township Stadium, the venue of the primary, almost throughout voting and counting till victory was achieved. It was a sight to behold as she broke into a victory dance immediately Martins was announced the winner.
Felicia worked herself weary for Bobby. She reached out to all and sundry including close associates of Martins, particularly those from Udung Uko and Urue Offong/Oruko, in a bid to win them over. There were reports that she even lobbied Kenim, her old friend, to support her (Kenim’s) in-law.
The Outcome
The figures turned out almost exactly as projected.
Martins won with 79 votes, just one vote above half of the votes. The margin between him and Bobby was 17 votes.
*When Blood is not Thicker than Water*
In the primary, some of the kingmakers and contenders had to make hard choices at the expense of filial relationships.
For instance, Kenim had to choose between her ambition and that of Bobby. She is married to Bobby’s uncle, Victor Onofiok, a retired Commissioner of Police in-charge of Works at Force Headquarters, Abuja. The Onofiok family is a prominent family in Udung Uko which boasts of other big names like Alice Ekpenyong, who plays politics in Mbo, her late husband’s LGA, and Wilson Onofiok who nursed a governorship ambition between 2013 and 2014.
Right from the start, Kenim never supported Bobby’s ambition which she probably saw as being in conflict with hers. Even when Bassey, her favourite aspirant, was effectively knocked out of the race on Saturday, Bobby was still not an option. If anything, she caused Bobby’s defeat by turning in her delegates to Martins.
Eyakenyi, Martins’ main kingmaker, equally looked beyond filial relationships in making her choice. She declined to support Kiniyi, a former ExxonMobil chief marine surveyor before joining NIMASA, who is married to her first daughter.
Kiniyi, who unsuccessfully sought the PDP Udung Uko LG chairmanship ticket in 2012 and House of Representatives’ ticket in 2014, could not hide his disappointment with his mother-in-law when he spoke with this writer at the beginning of the race in January. His words: “She has never supported me in all my elections including the current one.”
He was the aspirant who formally withdrew on Saturday.
Unlike Kenim, Alice supported Bobby, her nephew. But she possibly did so more as a loyal member of the Ekuwem structure in Mbo, which backed Bobby, than as a relative.
Eyo Suang seemed to have been the odd one out. He stood strappingly by Martins, his brother-in-law.
*Oro: A Nation where Women Reign Supreme Politically?*
In February 2017, while justifying his defection from the PDP to the APC on local radio, Senator Nelson Efiong, then the Senator representing Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District in the Senate, accused Governor Udom Emmanuel of imposing female political leadership on Oro Nation. To buttress his point, he named the female Political Leaders as Eyakenyi (Oron), Kenim (Udung Uko), Felicia (Okobo), and Precious (Urue Offong/Oruko).
But if the truth must be told, female relevance and even ascendancy in Oro politics predates Udom.
Indeed, Oro Nation blazed the trail in women participation in politics at a high level in what is now Akwa Ibom State as far back as the Second Republic (1979-1983). Oro produced the only female Member of the old Cross River State House of Assembly, Mrs. Atim Ante. She was from what is now Urue Offong/Oruko LGA.
Alice is also a record holder as the first female Oro state legislator in Akwa Ibom State. She served two terms in the House of Assembly (2007-2015). In her second term, she was the Chief Whip, the number four principal officer of the Assembly. That was during the regime of former Governor Godswill Akpabio.
Also, during the Akpabio era, specifically in his second term, two of the five elected LG Chairmen in Oro Nation were women – Felicia and Kenim. They served between 2012 and 2015.
It was still in the Akpabio era that an Oro woman, Eyakenyi, filled Akwa Ibom’s ministerial slot. She was Minister for Lands and Housing from 2014 to 2015 under then President Goodluck Jonathan.
Felicia is the second female Oro state legislator. And she is serving her second term as both the Member representing Okobo State Constituency and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, the second in-command.
Eyakenyi’s election into the Senate in 2019, which made her the first female Oro federal legislator, was like an icing on the cake.
In Sunday’s primary, two of the four PDP House of Assembly candidates nominated in Oro Nation are women – Kenim and Precious.
One Oro analyst points out that the figure means that women have 50 per cent of the Assembly candidates in Oro Nation, far higher than the 35 per cent affirmative action women have been clamouring for concerning political offices nationwide.
He goes further to argue that the ratio is even higher in terms of political leadership. The analyst puts the figure at 60 per cent given that three of the five Political Leaders are women – Eyakenyi, Kenim and Felicia.
He jokes that soon Oro men would be the ones begging for affirmative action.
But what is instructive is that the mentioned Oro female politicians did not get power on a platter of gold. They worked hard for it even in the face of male chauvinism. Perhaps, women in the rest of the state could learn a thing or two from them.
The Deputy Gubernatorial Race
For the first time in the history of Akwa Ibom politics, the deputy governorship ticket seems to be contested for. Almost every major Oro politician is mentioned in connection with the race.
Initially, the names frequently mentioned were Eyakenyi and Ekuwem.
Later, the name of Felicia cropped up.
Now, there are more names – Uno, Etim Umoh, Etim Ante, who is the President-General of Oro Union, the umbrella organization of Oro people, and his predecessor, Chief Janet Amba, who is the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises.
All these names are known to be supporting the Umo Eno project.
Nse Bruce, the late representative, was said to be OBA’s favourite for the deputy governorship ticket.
Some of the deputy governorship hopefuls were said to have used the House of Representatives’ contest as a dry run for their own ambition.
Indeed, so much was at stake yesterday.
