Akwa Ibom, one of Nigeria’s richest states from oil revenue, was among the PDP’s most reliable strongholds for a quarter of a century. The party won every governorship election from 1999 to 2023, several with more than a million votes and with opposition candidates far behind. Each governor in that period was chosen with the backing of his predecessor, and in June 2025 the fourth of them, Umo Eno, took the state into the APC.
1999 and 2003: Victor Attah
Obong Victor Attah, an architect and urban planner, won the January 1999 election with 843,360 votes. He was re-elected in April 2003 with 1,028,722 votes, beating the ANPP’s Samson Ime Umanna. Attah campaigned hard for the states’ control of offshore oil revenue and for the derivation principle, and the international airport at Uyo now bears his name.
2007 and 2011: Akpabio
Attah’s former commissioner, Godswill Akpabio, won the PDP ticket in 2007 and the April election with 1,044,566 votes, against just 19,865 for James Iniama of the Action Congress. In April 2011 he was re-elected with 957,585 votes against 163,449 for John James Akpan Udo-Edehe of the Action Congress of Nigeria. Akpabio later went to the Senate, served as a minister and in June 2023 was elected President of the Senate.
2015 and 2019: Udom Emmanuel
Akpabio’s choice to succeed him, the banker Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, survived a fight over his nomination and won in April 2015 with 996,071 votes against 89,865 for the APC’s Umana Okon Umana, a former Secretary to the State Government. In March 2019 he was re-elected with 519,712 votes against 171,978 for the APC’s Nsima Ekere, a former deputy governor, despite Akpabio’s move to the APC the previous year.
2023: Umo Eno
Emmanuel’s successor, Umo Eno, a businessman, pastor and former commissioner for lands, won the PDP ticket in 2022. The APC spent ten months fighting in court over who its candidate was. On 18 March 2023 Eno won with 354,348 votes (55%). Senator Bassey Albert Akpan of the Young Progressives Party came second with 136,262, and the APC’s Akan Udofia third with 129,602.
The results at a glance
| Year | Winner (party) | Votes | Runner-up (party) | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Victor Attah (PDP) | 843,360 | APP candidate | not published |
| 2003 | Victor Attah (PDP) | 1,028,722 | Samson Ime Umanna (ANPP) | not published |
| 2007 | Godswill Akpabio (PDP) | 1,044,566 | James Iniama (AC) | 19,865 |
| 2011 | Godswill Akpabio (PDP) | 957,585 | John James Akpan Udo-Edehe (ACN) | 163,449 |
| 2015 | Udom Emmanuel (PDP) | 996,071 | Umana Okon Umana (APC) | 89,865 |
| 2019 | Udom Emmanuel (PDP) | 519,712 | Nsima Ekere (APC) | 171,978 |
| 2023 | Umo Eno (PDP) | 354,348 | Bassey Albert Akpan (YPP) | 136,262 |
2027: Eno on the APC ticket
In early June 2025 Eno announced that he was leaving the PDP for the APC to align with the federal government. He is the APC candidate for the 6 February 2027 election. INEC’s final list names Brownson Ibanga Akpan for the PDP and John James Akpanudoedehe, who ran for governor in 2011 and later served as secretary of the APC’s national caretaker committee, for the ADC.
