Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno has stated that his family is intact, pleading with his political detractors to allow his wife’s soul to rest in peace.
The Governor made the plea while granting audience to some journalists when he attended the 60th birthday ceremony of a former Deputy Governor of the State, Mr. Nsima Ekere on Saturday.
Eno, who was reacting to a trending video on social media, where her daughter, Jane Eno Edidiong, accused him of sacrificing their mother, Pastor Patience Eno, on the alter of politics, said such was a handy work of detractors.
“My family is intact. We are in political times and so you can expect more of such. You can see everyone here. The event you are talking about happened immediately my wife passed. That was last year. So why is it surfacing now?
“And why is it on the eve of our second anniversary that we are celebrating a milestone that we have achieved? This tells me that there are detractors around. So all I can say is that; my family is intact even here; that is Jane herself with her husband. We have a good family.
“The pressure on the children when they lose their loved one was so traumatic and we must know that. All I will appeal to the public is that they should not bring back sad memories. It is enough that I have lost my wife. I pray that they should allow her peaceful soul to rest in peace”. Governor Eno appealed.
He, however, pledged to remain focused on the Akwa Ibom mandate given to him without paying attention to distractions from any direction.
“But I cannot be distracted, I remain focused on my decision to serve Akwa Ibom people and I don’t wish what happened to me to should happen to anyone else but the people throwing this around: if that is what they wish for themselves, I wish them luck. But we are intact as a family.
“I believe even in politics, family should be off limits. I don’t think that was anything serious. I am here. We are good”. The governor stressed.
It was gathered that the said video that raised issue about Governor Eno family trended during the second-anniversary celebration of the Governor’s tenure.
The video showed Jane, the second daughter of the governor saying: “My name is Jane Eddidiong Ufot, SSA to the Governor on Health, Safety and Environment. Daddy, I’m sending this post to you alone. Please, let’s talk before this destroys us. I am not a sacrifice. Mummy was—I’m not. I give you a few minutes. If you don’t act, I’ll post this everywhere.”
The next scene shows her speaking to a little girl, saying: “Tell Grandpa, ‘Do you want them to kill us? Do you want us to die like my baby brother died? And the little girl repeated after her and she shouted in fulfillment and said if she dies or her daughter, their blood will not go down in vain.
Recall that there were controversies even when Governor Umo Eno pronounced his first daughter, Lady Helen Obareki, to assume the responsibilities of the First Lady and continue her mother’s “Golden Initiatives For All” (GIFA) pet project, following the demise of the mother, Mrs. Patience Umo Eno.
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