Uyo—The Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Udom Emmanuel has sacked his Chief of Staff, Ephraim Inyangeyen, amidst political tension in Akwa Ibom State.
According to the PremiumTimes newspaper, the sack was announced on Tuesday via a letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Emmanuel Ekuwem.
The now-former chief of staff to the Akwa Ibom state government, Inyangeyen, had also previously served as a commissioner of works and is known to be a close ally to Governor Udom Emmanuel.
The Akwa Ibom state government, however, stated that the sack is not a result of “competencies.”
“Given the urgent need to match skillset and competencies to the task of maintaining the momentum of economic development in peace, your services are no longer required and you are hereby relieved of your position as chief of staff,” the SSG, Mr. Ekuwem said in the letter.
“You are therefore directed to hand over all property of the government in your position, to the Secretary to the State Government,” he added.
It was gathered that Mr. Inyangeyen recently declared interest to contest the 2023 senatorial election for the Akwa Ibom South District, allegedly against the wishes of Governor Emmanuel who, with other political leaders in the state, zoned the seat to a different area, Ikot Abasi Federal Constituency.
Sources in the stated also have suggested that the sack may not be unconnected with the fact that Inyangeyen is said to be supporting the governorship ambition of Bassey Albert, a senator from the state, against Governor Emmanuel’s preferred successor, Eno Umo.
It was also gathered that Inyangeyen’s security details were withdrawn last weekend after he sounded to disassociate himself from the Udom-led state government during a political outing within the state.
