Ekerete Udoh, the spokesperson for Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, has stated that the administration is “battle-ready” to confront Mr Eno’s critics.
“Let me sound it loud and clear here that we are
battle-tested media veterans,” Mr Udoh said at a media briefing on 1 December
in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital, apparently referring to himself and other media
aides—over 30 of them—to the governor.
“The political season may have started too early in Akwa
Ibom, and let me say this, we will vigorously, decisively, and in the spirit of
take no prisoners. I emphasise again, (we’ll) take no prisoners. We will defend
the honour of the governor, his integrity, his good works against the merchants
and purveyors of blackmail and mischief,” he added.
Mr Udoh said Governor Eno has come under “coordinated
attack” on social media lately, and that those attacking the governor “are not
motivated by the principles of common good”.
“Be careful of what you are doing,” he said of Mr Eno’s
critics. “We are watching you.”
The press briefing was held at the Ministry of Information
and chaired by the Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, who endorsed
the outrageous remarks by Governor Eno’s spokesperson.
“You all know what is in the air. Just like he (Udoh) said,
we are ready,” Mr Umanah said to the journalists present at the briefing, after
Mr Udoh handed the microphone to him.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to take no
prisoners is an idiomatic phrase which means to be aggressively harsh, tough,
or relentless.
Criticisms against Eno
After his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in June, Governor Eno has faced
criticism for his outrageous remarks and broken promise to run a cross-party
administration, as well as his outright attacks on the PDP and its leaders and
members in the state.
For instance, Mr Eno said recently that being a member of
the APC is a prerequisite for appointments and contract awards in the oil-rich
state.
In May, shortly before his defection, Mr Eno had vowed
before his cabinet members that he would not relinquish the PDP structure in
the state, even as he became a member of the APC.
“Contrary to insinuations that I want to run both parties,
far from it. And what is wrong with being interested? We would not leave the
PDP for thieves to come and hijack it and use it to fight against us.
“We will lead the structure of the party so that they can
work together and stay so that people don’t come from outside and think Umo Eno
has moved, let me come and hijack the party. No, let the structure of the party
remain. They’ve done their congresses, let them run and let it be that they are
there,” Mr Eno said.
The members of the Government House Uyo Press Corps, which
included the Channels Television crew, were present when Mr Eno made the
remarks.
After the meeting and sensing that Mr Eno’s remarks would
definitely attract criticism, the governor’s spokesperson, Mr Udoh, quickly
ordered all the correspondents at the press corps to suppress the story and not
to publish the video clip of the governor’s remarks. However, Channels
Television published the video clip, prompting the governor to ban the
station’s reporter, Christopher Moffat, and the cameraman, Kufre Ikpe, from the
press corps.
Because of Mr Eno’s repressive actions against the Channels
Television crew, the International Press Institute Nigeria blacklisted the
governor on 2 December for serious violations of press freedom and democratic
norms.
NUJ refuses to comment
Nsibiet John, the chairperson of the Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, was present at the briefing where
Governor Eno’s spokesperson made the “We’ll take no prisoners” comment.
When contacted on Monday, Mr John told our reporter that he
did not stay till the end of the briefing, and that he was not present when Mr
Udoh made the comment.
The NUJ chairperson insisted he would not react to the
remarks unless he saw a video clip of the spokesperson’s comment.
Mr John acknowledged receipt of the clip forwarded to him by
our reporter, but afterwards declined to take the reporter’s calls seeking his
reaction.
Like Mr John, Sunday Antai, a former NUJ chairperson in Akwa
Ibom, declined to speak on the matter when contacted on Monday.
Mr Antai, a publisher of a local newspaper in the state,
suggested that the remarks could be viewed from “different perspectives” and
that anyone could choose to like it or dislike it.
Our reporter asked him if he was comfortable with the
spokesperson’s comments. “Well, I won’t say I was comfortable or not
comfortable,” he responded.
The former NUJ chairperson declined to speak when asked to
confirm if newspapers were doing enough to hold Governor Eno and his
administration accountable.
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