Nigeria, Sept. 6 -- Former Governor Udom Emmanuel's visit to Akwa Ibom State has unsettled the state politics as appointees of Governor Umo Eno openly courted him, an action the Senate President Godswill Akpabio camp described as a declaration of allegiance and loyalty.

After serving as governor for eight years, 2015 - 2023, Mr Emmanuel retired to private life in Nigeria's commercial city, Lagos State, where he served as executive director of Zenith Bank before he became governor.

His Thursday visit to his hometown, Awa Iman, Onna Local Government Area, for his cousin's burial, is his first visit to the state after his successor, Mr Eno, whom he helped to become governor, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progr...