Another commissioner has resigned from Governor Udom Emmanuel’s cabinet.
Sunday Ibuot, Commissioner for Workforce and Labor Planning in Akwa Ibom State, tendered his resignation in a letter dated March 10 to Mr. Emmanuel.
The stamp showed that the letter had been received on March 11 at the governor’s office.
“I am submitting this resignation from appointment as a commissioner in your cabinet for personal reasons,” Mr. Ibuot, who is a pastor, said in his letter to the governor.
Ibout said he served the Emmanuel administration and the state to “the best of my abilities and potentialities, with milestones in the sands of time” while commissioner.
“It has been a tremendous honor to have been named so. First, as Secretary of the Technical Committee for Agriculture and Food Sufficiency, then Honorable Special Advisor, Political/Legislative Affairs and Water Resources, and finally Honorable Commissioner in the Akwa Ibom State Executive Council of his administration”, said the now former commissioner.
He told Governor Emmanuel that he would always be grateful to him.
Ibuot is the second commissioner to have so far resigned from Emmanuel’s cabinet.
Akan Okon, the Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, resigned from the cabinet on Monday to pursue his run for governor of the state.
There is speculation that more of Emmanuel’s commissioners and aides will resign from the government due to the 2023 general election.
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In addition to Okon, other gubernatorial hopefuls in Akwa Ibom include Bassey Albert, a senator, and Onofiok Luke, a member of the House of Representatives.
Governor Emmanuel had chosen a member of his cabinet, Umo Eno, as his preferred successor, amid quiet opposition within his cabinet and the People’s Democratic Party in the state.
Last month, the governor fired his chief of staff, Ephraim Inyangeyen, over what was perceived as a political disagreement.