The leadership of Akwa Ibom State PDP have customarily chosen to field only the incumbent governor, Deac.Udom Emmanuel for it’s Governorship slot. The decision, according to party leaders and stalwarts, is to maintain consistency of their zoning agreement.
Being the incumbent State Governor, Deac. Udom is undoubtedly a popular political figure but that notwithstanding, he will have to convince the people of the State of his qualification to be re-elected in the office he presently occupies otherwise be replaced by the APC candidate who equally presents himself for election.
On this account, we review Deac. Udom as follows
Background and Family Life
52-year-old Deac. Emmanuel hails from Awa Iman in Onna Local Government of the State where he served in leadership capacity first time as Sunday school coordinators at United Evangelical Church (QIC) (formerly Qua Iboe Church ).
He is happily married, with kids, to Martha Udom Emmanuel. He is a serving deacon of
United Evangelical Church (QIC), Nigeria where he and his family worship
Educational Qualification
Deac. Udom attended Secondary Commercial School, Ikot Akpan Ishiet, Onna LGA of
Akwa Ibom State.Thereafter, he went ahead to acquire Advanced Certificate of Basic Studies (CBS) and Higher School Certificate (HSC) from School of Arts and Science, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Furthermore, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Lagos far back in 1988.
He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management and also undertook an Advanced Management Program at INSEAD, France.
Professional Experience
Prior to his assumption of office as State Governor in May,2015, Mr. Emmanuel had previously served in crucial leadership positions including; Audit Manager, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Chief Financial officer of Zenith Bank Plc. and Group Head of Income Optimization, Financial Control & Strategic Planning Department at Zenith Bank.
He is an associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
He served as General Manager of Zenith Bank Plc. He joined Zenith in 1996 from Diamond Bank Limited and was the pioneer manager of its Lagos Central Branch. He was in charge of the Telecommunications Sector, Income Optimization and Financial & Strategic Planning Group of Zenith Bank Plc. He has over seventeen years of financial services experience. He served as an Executive Director of Zenith Bank Plc.
Political Relevance
Mr. Udom’s switch from the banking sector was warranted by his appointment as Secretary to State Government in July, 2013 by the then Gov. Godswill Akpabio.
In 2014, he aspired for the governorship of Akwa Ibom State in on the platform of PDP where he contended in a tough tussle with 22 other popular aspirants to emerge as the candidate of the Akwa Ibom State People’s Democratic Party (PDP). His slogan for canvassing the support of the Akwa Ibom populace by then was, “Udom is Right.”
After winning with the election 999,071 votes to defeat APC’s candidate Umana Okon Umana who scored 89,865 votes of the All Progressive Congress(according to INEC), he was sworn-in as Governor in May, 2015.
So far Udom has played host to coordinators of several sectors of the state who in-turn have assured him of supporting his election bid, however, his opponents in APC who are exerting so much influence to topple him are equally enjoying the support of an ever-growing percentage of the State’s populace.
The massive growth of the APC portends the reality that Akwa Ibom is no longer a one-party state and as such, unlike previous occasions, the PDP candidate this time around Deac. Udom will not enjoy a smooth ride to the Hilltop Mansion.
On his part, Mr. Udom is standing by his promise of delivering his five-point agenda and as such has not altered his initial manifesto which he promised;
★Wealth Creation
★Economic and Political Inclusion
★Poverty Alleviation,
★Infrastructural Consolidation and Expansion,
★Job Creation
