In the supplementary election for the Abak/Etim Ekpo/Ika Federal Constituency held on Saturday, Inemesit Clement Jimbo unseated Aniekan Umanah, the incumbent who was wanted to return to the Hallowed chambers.
Jimbo is a Quantity Surveyor while Umanah is a Communication/Public Relations guru having served as Commissioner for Information and Communication in Akwa Ibom State government.
While Jimbo vied under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Umanah jostled under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the opposition party at the national level.
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Jimbo winner after scoring 22,225 votes to crush his closest rival Umanah who polled 20,793 votes.
Reacting to the win, Jimbo said “Never allow anybody to look down on your days of little beginning. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. We took that step some years ago, and today it has culminated in a very great victory.
“And I have good news for you, this is just the beginning of greater things to come and you will be alive to witness those greater things.
“I am very delighted. This is just the beginning of a continuous celebration. We are going to hold a Thanksgiving to appreciate God and every critical stakeholder of the party who has made this day so.
“Keep your eyes open, keep your ears open because from today henceforth, you are going to experience greater things in this constituency.
“By the grace of God, many of our youths who have been bastardized, reduced, abused, deprived of achieving their potential, God will use us to upgrade their standard and your status. We will try our best.”
INEC Cancels Ikono/Ini election
Meanwhile, INEC has cancelled the Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency rerun election in Akwa Ibom due to violence.
The election is between Hon. Emmanuel Ukpongudo popularly known as Macaire of Young Progressives Party (YPP) and Dr. Glory Edet, the immediate past Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Sufficiency in the state, of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Cyril Omorogbe, stated this when he addressed newsmen in his office in Uyo on Saturday.
Mr Omoregbe said the election was cancelled in all the 17 polling units as a result of reported snatching of election materials, including Bi-Modal Voters Accreditation Machine System (BVAS) and others
“I just want to give a brief update on what has happened today in the case of the rerun election.
“The fact is that we had about four Local Government Areas (LGAs) where we conducted election and one major one of them was the Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency
“We were there this morning early enough at about 8:30 a.m; polling units were opened. A couple of hours after we opened the polls, I received a call that BVAS machines were hijacked.
“So, I knew from then that we were in for a tough time. Two hours after that, I received another report that was not good. So, the rerun election in Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency has been cancelled,” he said.
Mr Omoregbe added, “I received reports from the Collation Officers that were supposed to collate the result in the area, that election did not hold.
“The whole exercise in those 17 polling units was marred by violence as materials were either hijacked, disrupted, or people were being chased, among other things of that nature.
“From the Collation Officers in the field who were supposed to collate, they all came back and had written reports, and the result sheets they were supposed to fill are all here. Apparently, there was no election for now.
“On the other constituency of Abak/Etim Ekpo/Ika Federal Constituency, I am still expecting to hear from them, but I believe at this point things went well. Perhaps, in the next couple of hours, the result will be declared.”
The REC said the commission would take a decision on the matter after a meeting in Abuja.
Presiding Officer Changes result under duress
A Presiding Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Ajani Isaac Oluwaseyi, in the Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, has explained the reason for changing the supplementary election results under duress.
However, Oluwaseyi, who presided over the election in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area, declared that the Peoples Democratic Party did not win.
In his letter, which is currently generating lots of comments online, he said unknown men forcibly diverted while on their way to the INEC office and forced to change the results in favor of the candidate of the PDP.
According to Sahara reporters, in the letter, he said “The election was conducted and at the close of the election. We were conveyed to the INEC office but diverted to another place in place of the INEC office where we were forced to manipulate the results under duress.’’
