The government secretary’s office was still sealed by security operatives as at Tuesday evening.
The political crisis in Akwa Ibom may be on the verge of being resolved as Governor Godswill Akpabio on Tuesday held a secret meeting with the embattled Secretary to the State Government, Umana Umana.
Mr. Umana’s office was sealed on Monday by armed security operatives from the Government House, Uyo, reportedly on the orders of Mr. Akpabio. The office remained sealed by the security officials as at Tuesday.
Armed security men led by one A. Akiola, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said to head the police security unit in the Government House, Uyo, reportedly stormed the government secretary’s office block located within the government house, at about 10 a.m. on Monday and took over, after sacking civil servants working there.
The armed mobile policemen and plain clothe operatives from the State Security Service who mounted security at the entrance of Mr. Umana’s office, were on Tuesday still busy checking every person and vehicle going in or out of the premises, even as movement remains restricted.
Though the official reason for the unexpected siege remains unknown, as no government official was ready to talk on the issue, sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the crisis is caused by the 2015 governorship election in the state.
Mr. Umana had last Thursday made public his intention to contest for governor in 2015, a decision that many say did not go down well with Mr. Akpabio, who cannot re-contest as this is second term in office.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr. Akpabio, who had sent Mr. Umana on an official assignment in Abuja, was himself out of town when the take-over by the security details occurred on Monday.
Since his return to Uyo late on Monday, Mr. Umana has reportedly been operating from his private residence even as his aides maintained that he has not been sacked or asked to resign.
Sources close to the Government House, Uyo, told our reporter that after the governor returned to the state late on Monday, he summoned a meeting with his close aides to get the full briefing of what transpired in his absence.
Later on Tuesday afternoon, the governor, accompanied by his close aides, reportedly drove in his official convoy to pay an unscheduled visit to Mr. Umana in the latter’s private residence at Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo. The two men had a closed-door meeting that lasted for over an hour.
Details of the meeting were not made public, but indications are that it may have bordered on how to find a way to calm frayed political nerves and douse the palpable tension that has since engulfed the state.
The Akwa Ibom Commissioner of Information has declined comment on the crisis saying he is currently in Abuja on an assignment and not in Akwa Ibom.
Mr. Akpabio and Mr. Umana have remained political allies dating back more than a decade to when they both served as members of the State Executive Council under the Victor Attah administration. Mr. Attah was Akwa Ibom governor between 1999 and 2007, and was succeeded by Mr. Akpabio.
The political bond between Messrs Akpabio and Umana was so strong that many believed there was an existing agreement that suggested Mr. Umana would succeed Mr. Akpabio in 2015.
Current happenings in the state, however, indicate that is not the situation.
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