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    INEC Withholds Akpabio’s Senatorial District Result

    straightnewsng.comBy Updated:No Comments4 Mins Read
    Senator Godswill Akpabio - Senate Minority Leader
    Senator Godswill Akpabio - Senate Minority Leader

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended the announcement of results in Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District.

    Senator Godswill Akpabio, the All Progressives Congress, APC  contested for re-election with Dr. Chris Ekpenyong, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

    An INEC official in the state told PREMIUM TIMES, Sunday night, that Mr Akpabio’s challenger, Chris Ekpenyong of the PDP, was leading in the results announced so far before the commission took a decision to suspend further announcement.

    Though INEC was said to sort out the results before announcement, it was alleged that so far Ekpenyong got 123,090 while Akpabio trailed with 68,867 votes.

    A source confided in Straightnews that if the results of Essien Udim are added, Akpabio will coast to victory and this what has no doubt agitated Akpabio’s opponents.

    “We are having some issues with the election in Essien Udim local government area,” said the official who did not want his name mentioned in this report because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

    “If we accept the results from the local government area, Akpabio’s votes will overshoot that of Chris Ekpenyong.

    “There are issues in the results which we are yet to be resolved,” the INEC official said.

    Messrs Akpabio and Ekpenyong are yet to speak on the development.

    Essien Udim, where Mr Akpabio comes from, is said to be one of the local government areas with a large voter’s population in the state.

    The senator in a result released on Saturday by INEC in his own polling unit, Ukana West Ward 2, unit 9 held at the Independence High School, Ukana, scored 1,533 votes, while Mr Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of the state, scored four votes.

    Mr Akpabio’s party, APC, before the commencement of the elections, had accused the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom, Mike Igini, of being partisan in favour of the PDP.

    The APC had called for Mr Igini’s re-deployment from the state.

    The PDP responded by saying the APC was agitated because the REC refused to be “compromised” by the party.

    Mr Igini has a reputation in Nigeria as being an incorruptible electoral officer.

    If the commission does not announce the results, it has to cancel and announce a new date for the election.

    Meanwhile, the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has called for the cancellation of the results so far announced.
    In a press release issued on Sunday and signed by Ini Okopido, the state APC chairman and the state secretary, Augustine Ekanem said “having reviewed all the field reports from its unit agents who participated in the Presidential and National Assembly elections of 23 February 2019, hereby states “That the elections purported to have been held in the state on the aforementioned date should be cancelled outright.
    The release entitled  AKWA IBOM STATE APC CALLS FOR CANCELLATION OF ELECTIONS said “Failure to, in particular, to deliver election materials to designated RACK Centres as announced by INEC to all political parties in a briefing by the Resident Electoral Commissioner a few days to the elections, thereby misleading party members to wait in vain in those designated centres while the state REC in collusion with his Electoral Officers and the PDP delivered the said election materials illegally to the homes of PDP leaders for illegal thumb printing of the ballots.
    “Failure of INEC in Akwa Ibom State to comply with the requirements of the Electoral Act 2010 (as Amended) for the conduct of elections which specifies the use of the card reader for the accreditation of voters, a requirement that was blatantly disregarded.
    “That in light of the above, we hereby state that the said elections were not conducted according to law in the state.”
    It, therefore, called for the cancellation of what it “the purported elections” and a new date set for fresh Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.
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