Akwa Ibom Labour Party candidate names campaign spokesperson

Michael Bush, the Labour Party’s governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom, has appointed estate surveyor and valuer Udofa Assam as spokesperson for his campaign ahead of the 2027 election. Mr Bush announced the appointment during a Facebook Live broadcast on Sunday. Assam is from Eket Local Government Area and is the younger brother of Assam Assam, a former Nigerian ambassador to Russia and an associate of Governor Umo Eno.

The elder Assam served as director-general of Mr Eno’s 2023 governorship campaign and is still referred to at state functions as the director-general of government business. The appointment therefore places Mr Bush’s campaign spokesperson in a family with a direct connection to the incumbent governor’s political operation. Speaking about his new role, Udofa Assam said the campaign needed fresh ideas.

He described the responsibility as a challenge and said the state needed to move forward rather than continue with what he called the recycling of people without new ideas. He rejected the suggestion that his appointment could create a conflict of interest because of his brother’s relationship with Governor Eno. Assam said the two brothers would be serving the state on different political platforms and cited other family members who have belonged to opposing parties.

Bush previously supported Mr Eno’s 2023 governorship campaign as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party. Their relationship later deteriorated, particularly after Mr Eno moved from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress in 2025. Bush subsequently joined the Labour Party and won its governorship primary in May.

Assam said Bush was offering himself as an instrument of change. The candidate has proposed focusing on inclusion, justice and good governance, alongside measures including low-cost housing and support for fishers. Parties and candidates are now intensifying preparations for the 2027 poll.