Akwa Ibom: Two Commissioners Resign As 2023 Elections Gather Pace

Two commissioners have resigned their appointments as members of the Akwa Ibom State Executive Council as consultations by governorship aspirants gather pace ahead of the next general elections scheduled for 2023.

The commissioners are, Akan Okon, one of the longest serving members of the state executive council who was in charge of economic development and Ibom Deep Seaport and Sunny Ibout who was in charge of labour and manpower development.

According to Okon, who was first appointed into the state executive council by former Governor Godswill Akpabio in 2014, he’s leaving “to focus on my aspiration for the 2023 governorship election.”

“Today I formally tender my resignation from the Akwa Ibom State Executive Council as the commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport.

“It was an honour and great privilege to serve our state under the leadership of Udom Emmanuel at such an important phase in our history,’’ Okon said in an eight paragraph post he shared on his timeline.

Similarly, Sunday Ekanem Ibout while thanking the governor for the opportunity given to him to said he was resigning for “personal reasons.’’

Ibout served first as the secretary, technical committee on agriculture and food sufficiency, later as special adviser, political and legislative affairs and water resources and finally as commissioner in charge of labour and manpower development.

It was not immediately clear whether Umo Eno, commissioner for Lands and Water Resources who has been endorsed by Governor Udom Emmanuel as his likely successor would also tender his resignation to enable him pursue his gubernatorial ambition having already launched his consultations across the state.

Apart from Umo Enoh, other governorship aspirants include Bassey Albert Akpan, a senator and Onofiok Luke, a member of the House of Representatives, both of whom have held state wide consultations about their governorship ambitions.

According to checks, all the governorship aspirants are Akwa Ibom North East senatorial district based on an unwritten agreement that the next governor should come from the district since the two other areas have already produced governors since 1999.