EXTRA: Umo Eno assigns office of first lady to daughter after wife’s demise

Umo Eno, governor of Akwa Ibom, has handed over the office of the first lady to Helen Eno-Obareki, his daughter, following the death of his wife, Patience Umo Eno. 

The governor spoke in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital, on Friday during a condolence visit by Oluremi Tinubu, Nigeria’s first lady. 

Eno said his administration would sustain the office of the deceased and that Helen would help coordinate its affairs. 

“Unfortunately for me, I happen to be the first sitting governor to have lost his wife and I pray it will not happen again to anybody, it is my earnest prayer,” Eno said. 

“It is not an easy task ahead but I want to please beg you, I will continue to sustain the office of the first lady and I want to please introduce our daughter, Helen, [and] hand her over to you ma’am. She will continue to coordinate the office, your excellency.”

Eno thanked Oluremi Tinubu for her calls and prayers while his wife was ill, saying she is a mother to the entire nation who — despite party differences — relates with everyone.

“We are a PDP state but that has never crossed your mind in dealing with people. You have been consistently the mother of the nation,” he said.

“Please help extend our warmest appreciation to our father, the president and commander in chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

On her part, Oluremi condoled with the governor, saying the deceased was a “peaceful, God-fearing woman”.

‘A LOSS TO THE NATION’

In a subsequent visit, Senate President Godswill Akpabio described Patience’s death as a loss to the entire nation. 

“God gives and God takes. He is a man of God, she herself was a great woman of God and for me, I believe that yes, on the earthly plane, we have lost a first lady, he has lost a wife, the family has lost a mother and lost a grandmother but they have gained an angel in heaven,” Akpabio said. 

“So my prayer is that this death will be the beginning of great legacies for Umo Eno because, as she is there now in heaven closer to God, she will be guiding, praying for him and interceding and then helping Akwa Ibom to prosper more under his tenure.”