A federal lawmaker from Akwa Ibom, Clement Jimbo, who predicted Peter Obi would lose his polling unit in 2027, faces apparent rejection at a political event as APC chieftain and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Emmanuel Enoidem insists, “We will return him whether you like it or not.”
A member of the House of Representatives, Clement Jimbo, who said the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi cannot win the 2027 election and will even lose his polling unit, faced apparent rejection from some members of his constituency at a political event in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The federal lawmaker stated in at least two different interviews between January and February that Mr Obi was “moving against the direction of winning any election in this country.”
In January, Mr Jimbo, in an interview said that Mr Obi would never win the 2027 election because he was “unpatriotic” rather than offering “constructive opposition”. He accused Mr Obi of always projecting the country in a bad light.
A month later in an interview with TheCable, Mr Jimbo said “Peter Obi is only making noise. He cannot win any election in Nigeria”.
He went further when asked specifically about Mr Obi’s polling unit. “He is not going to win his polling unit, mark my words,” he said.
But on Thursday, 24 September, Mr Jimbo’s own political future appeared to encounter resistance when Emmanuel Enoidem, an APC chieftain in Akwa Ibom, called on residents at a project commissioning in Etim Ekpo to support the lawmaker’s return to the House in 2027.
The crowd responded with “No,” according to a video reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Enoidem is a former national legal adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party and a senior advocate of Nigeria. He is also a close ally of Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State.
Mr Enoidem, at the event, made a series of increasingly emphatic appeals for Mr Jimbo’s re-election.
“It will amount to rebellion for you not to vote all the candidates of APC and Clement Jimbo is one of them,” he told the gathering.
“We will return him whether you like it or not.” He repeated, “We will return him,” several times.
“We will not be afraid to mention Clement Jimbo. We will mention the name as many times as possible until the name becomes part and parcel of you. We will return Clement Jimbo in 2027,” Mr Enoidem said.
Mr Enoidem contested the Akwa Ibom North-West Senate seat in 2023 against Godswill Akpabio who emerged winner and later became the president of the Senate.
At the said event, when the camera panned to the audience, some were seen waving their hands in apparent disapproval of Mr Enoidem’s attempt to canvass support for Mr Jimbo.
Mr Enoidem then asked the gathering: “Do you love me? Have you been following me? Have you been listening to me?”
He again said: “We will return Clement Jimbo.”
In the February interview, Mr Jimbo dismissed the political strength of Mr Obi, the 2023 Labour Party’s presidential candidate, who later joined the African Democratic Congress.
Mr Jimbo said Mr Obi had moved between political parties without building a sufficiently strong political structure.
“Peter Obi is only making noise. He cannot win any election in Nigeria,” he said.
The federal lawmaker challenged Mr Obi to identify his party agent in his (Jimbo’s own) polling unit in Abak Urban Ward 1.
“That was why it was a problem for them when the court asked them to produce copies of the results,” he said.
Mr Jimbo concluded his argument with a specific prediction: “He is not going to win his polling unit, mark my words.”
Asked whether Mr Obi was irrelevant in the 2027 election, Mr Jimbo responded that he could not win his polling unit.
The language used by Mr Enoidem at the Etim Ekpo event has, meanwhile, raised questions about the extent to which party leaders can demand loyalty from party members and the public while voters retain the right to choose candidates at an election.
Responding to PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiry, Mr Enoidem said the statement had been misunderstood.
He said the gathering at the model school at Utu Nsekhe/Utu Ikot Eboro was attended by APC members and was not an ordinary event for other voters.
“You need to know that everyone who gathered at the Model School at Utu Nsekhe/Utu Ikot Eboro in Etim Ekpo LGA to witness the commissioning of that school is a card carrying member of the APC. They were not mere voters but party members,” he said.
However, PREMIUM TIMES has observed overtime that project commissioning in Akwa Ibom usually have participants beyond party loyalists.
Mr Enoidem said party members were bound by the party’s constitution and described voting for another party’s candidate as one of the manifestations of anti-party activity.
