Gov Eno explains daughter’s role in govt after Akwa Ibom first lady’s death

Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State has explained the role her first daughter would play in the state government as she stepped in to coordinate the late wife’s office.

The Akwa Ibom First Lady, Patience Eno, passed away on 26 September in a hospital following an undisclosed illness.

What Tinubu’s wife told Eno

On Friday, 4 October, when Mr Eno received Oluremi Tinubu, wife of Nigeria’s president, who was on a condolence visit to Uyo, the governor introduced his first daughter, Helen Obareki, to Mrs Tinubu as the person to “coordinate the office of the First Lady”, according to the transcript of the interaction during visit seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Eno told Mrs Tinubu that Helen would work with “all her mothers” in Akwa Ibom, including the deputy governor and the commissioner for women affairs.

“I didn’t know you would do this so publicly, but even in America, that is how it is done. So I understand,” Mrs Tinubu, who was accompanied by Nana Shettima, the wife of the vice president, and Unoma Akpabio, the wife of the Senate president, responded to the governor.

Turning to the governor’s daughter, Mrs Tinubu said, “Helen, your mom didn’t bring you to me just for nothing, and it’s good that your mom’s colleagues are here and the wife of the Vice President is here.

“I know Helen very well.

President Tinubu’s wife condoled Governor Eno and daughter, Helen

“Helen, God will be with you. Don’t worry, you will do more than your mom, and God will give you good health, okay?”

When Senate President Godswill Akpabio visited Uyo to sympathise with Mr Eno over his wife’s death, the governor repeated what he told Mrs Tinubu. He said he was not going to marry a new wife.

“No one will be able to fill that vacuum. Her legacy will live in our hearts.

“She had started projects, and I had to introduce our daughter Helen to the First Lady (of Nigeria) so she would step in to coordinate that office so that the office would still be active in doing the programmes that she (the departed first lady) had started.”

Mr Eno is a pastor, as is his late wife. They were married for 38 years and had six children.

‘First ladies are not appointed’

On Sunday, during the church service at All Nations Christian Ministry International, Eket, Akwa Ibom State, he clarified why he appointed his daughter as the coordinator of the office of the governor’s wife after his wife’s death.

Photos from the church service show Mr Eno and another man, apparently a cleric, praying for Helen.

“First ladies are not appointed. They come with the governor and she had been with the mother from the beginning.

“The First Lady has gone, but the work of the First Lady must continue, so I choose our first daughter,” Governor Eno told the congregants.

Mr Eno’s remark is captured in a statement issued on Sunday by the media unit of the Office of the Wife of the Governor, Akwa Ibom State.

Continuing, the governor said, “I do it, fully conscious that the office of the First Lady has responsibilities to the women of this state. My wife had programmes she was running – the Golden Initiative for All, the ARISE Initiative for the Elderly and others. As long as I remain governor, those programmes will not die.

“By appointment, she’s the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor and the Coordinator, office of the First Lady.

“Let the office keep running. I’ll be comforted.”