Umo Eno, Governor of Akwa Ibom State, has criticised a media report that said his first daughter, Mrs. Helen Obareki, had been selected as the state’s first lady.
Chronicle NG reported that the governor’s wife, Mrs. Patience Umo Eno, died in a hospital on September 26, 2024, accompanied by family members.
During a condolence visit by the President’s wife, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, the governor stated that his daughter, as Special Assistant to his late wife, was in an ideal position to oversee the First Lady’s Office.
Speaking on Sunday at the All Nations Christian Ministry International in Eket, the governor described his daughter’s coordination of the office as a natural conclusion rather than a product of political expediency.
He explained that asking her to coordinate the office would help the family heal, keep the office functioning, and provide him with comfort.
He emphasised that First Ladies were not selected and that, in light of his wife’s death, it was not only proper but also consoling and reassuring for his daughter, who had been her closest assistant, to handle the office’s lofty programs.
Eno said priority attention would be given to his wife’s pet project, “Golden Initiative For All,” and other support programs for the women, elderly, vulnerable, and the less privileged, adding that the activities could only be sustained with Mrs. Obareki as coordinator due to her experience, exposure, education, and access.
“Please listen to me and listen well. First ladies are not appointed; they come with the governor. I made a statement, and I would like to repeat that statement for the avoidance of doubt.
“Our daughter, Mrs. Helen Obareki, will coordinate the office of the First Lady. She had been with the mother from the beginning, and you heard the First Lady of the Nation, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, say, ‘The mother introduced her to me.’.
“So appointing her as the coordinator is not an appointment of a First Lady. You don’t appoint a First Lady.
“So, by appointment, she is a Senior Special Assistant to the Governor and the Coordinator, Office of the First Lady. This is not political; it is natural.
“All I pray for is support and wisdom for her to be able to ensure that none of those programs will die and that she will bring more insight and innovation to the office,” he said.
Eno also stated that he decided to bring healing to the family and allow the smooth running of the office.
“The only reason I brought this up again is for clarification, that I am conscious of what I am doing, and it is to bring healing to the family and allow the office to keep running. That’s one of the ways I will be comforted,” the governor said.
Furthermore, Eno said, “Even when Jesus died, Peter said, ‘Choose from amongst us those that were with Jesus’. So, for me, the Office of the First Lady has responsibilities to the women of this state, and my wife had programs she was running: the GIFA, the support for the elderly, and the other programs, and as long as I remain governor, those programs will not die.
“There must be a coordinator, and it must be someone that I see daily, someone that can walk into my room and brief me, not a distant person.”
