Ibibio Group Rejects Ethnic Zoning

A socio-political group in Akwa Ibom State, the Ibibio National Union, has rejected the zoning of the governorship seat among ethnic groups in the state, insisting that political leadership should be based on senatorial districts rather than ethnicity.

The group’s National President, Emmanuel Akpan, said the Ibibio people would no longer support what he described as the practice of rotating the governorship among the Ibibio, Annang and Oro ethnic groups.

Akpan dismissed the widely held description of Akwa Ibom as a state built on an ethnic “tripod” comprising the Ibibio, Annang and Oro, arguing that the concept was misleading because the three groups were not equal in population or political strength.

“The concept of tripod connotes equality in all material particulars. A pot stands on three legs to show balance. It means each leg is as important as the other, equal in length, breadth, width, density and mass,” he said.

According to him, the claim that the state’s political structure is based on an ethnic tripod has been tolerated over the years for the sake of peace and political convenience, but should no longer be accepted as a basis for determining political leadership.

He argued that Akwa Ibom, like other Nigerian states, should instead be viewed through its three senatorial districts: Uyo, Ikot Ekpene and Eket.

The union maintained that in a multi-ethnic state, some ethnic groups would inevitably constitute a majority while others would remain minorities.

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Akpan further claimed that the Ibibio constitute the dominant ethnic population across the three senatorial districts, arguing that they occupy the entirety of the Uyo Senatorial District, a substantial portion of Eket Senatorial District and part of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.

He therefore called on other ethnic groups, particularly the Oro, to acknowledge the demographic realities of the state and seek political accommodation within what he described as an Ibibio-dominated political environment.

“Let it be emphasised that no Oro person can become governor of Akwa Ibom State without the say-so of the Ibibios—the majority and largest ethnic group in the state,” Akpan said.

Meanwhile, another Ibibio socio-political group, Mboho Ikot Abasi, led by Mkpisong Chelly Okoko, cautioned against what it described as the “weaponisation” of minority status to intimidate or blackmail the Ibibio majority.

The group described such conduct as “as evil as the tyranny of the majority, if not worse,” and urged stakeholders to pursue political engagement based on fairness and mutual respect.

Similarly, the umbrella organisation of the Ibibio people, Akwa Esop Imaisong Ibibio, said that although the governorship is traditionally rotated among the three senatorial districts, minority groups within each district should not automatically assume that the governorship would be ceded to them on the basis of ethnicity.

The positions by the various Ibibio groups are likely to intensify the debate over the principles guiding the rotation of political offices in Akwa Ibom State, particularly as stakeholders begin to position themselves ahead of future political contests.