29112019

42—Vanguard, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2019
“As we prepare for the re-run
elections in Essien Udim LGA,
we are cautious and mindful of a
re-run election superintended by
Mike Igini. We have no faith in
Igini’s impartiality as an
unbiased and independent
umpire.
“We are distraught and
doubtful of a change of posture
by Igini and therefore cautious
to go into a fresh election while
Igini remains the State REC. We
demand the immediate redeployment
of Igini in the
interest of peace and justice.”
•Akpabio
* Says no difference between past military
govts and civilian administrations
AKPABIO VS EKPENYONG:
Uncertainty in Akwa Ibom over senatorial rerun
By Chioma Onuegbu
THE Appeal Court ruling in
Calabar, penultimate
Saturday, which ordered re-run
poll in Essien Udim local
government area within 90 days
in respect of the Akwa Ibom
North-West Senatorial seat has
dominated discussions in Akwa
Ibom polity.
Arising from the discussions are
arguments, allegations, renewed
bickering and varied
interpretations of the judgement
by leaders, stakeholders, and
supporters of the two rival political
parties involved in the legal battle
– the People’s Democratic Party,
PDP, and the All Progressives
Congress, APC.
Senator Godswill Akpabio,
current minister of Niger Delta
Affairs, ran on the plank of the
APC while Senator Chris
Ekpenyong contested on the
banner of the PDP. Ekpenyong
was returned as winner by the
Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, a decision
Akpabio kicked against leading
to the court of appeal ruling
ordering repeat poll in Essien
Udim, one of the 10 LGAs of the
zone to determine the winner.
Currently, Ekpenyong has
114,973 votes from the remaining
nine LGAs while Akpabio has
76,917 votes. There are 95,987
voters with permanent voters
cards, PVCs, in Essien Udim
LGA, where Akpabio hails from.
Akpabio’s chances
Depending on voters turnout,
Akpabio has the chance of
cancelling out Ekpenyong’s
38,056 voters lead and winning
the overall election. This is one of
the reasons the yet to be fixed
supplementary poll is raising dust
in Akwa Ibom.
However, part of the argument
in the camp of the PDP is that
even if Akpabio of the APC decides
to go for the rerun it will
be impracticable and impossible
for him to win.
Their argument stems from
their belief that during the
general elections, the total
number of eligible voters in
Essien Udim that collected their
PVCs was 95, 987, and out of
the number only 19,455 were
accredited for the actual election.
Some chieftains of the party
argued further that the situation
may worsen during the rerun,
because in actual election
situation, it is difficult to have
up to 75 percent voters turnout,
which explains the wide gap
between 19,455 accredited
voters and the 95,987 that
collected their PVCs in Essien
Udim.
Poll has been won and lost —
Asikpo
A chieftain of the PDP from
Akwa Ibom Northwest, Dr Anny
Asikpo, said as far the people of
Ikot Ekpene senatorial district
are concerned the senatorial
election had been won and lost.
“It was won comprehensively
by the incumbent senator and
lost badly by the current
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
Like I had said before, even if
the election will be conducted
one million times he will fail one
million plus one times.
“So if I were him I will not
present myself for the rerun.
Even the people of Essien Udim
don’t want him to return to the
Senate; that is not the wish and
expectation of the people of
Essien Udim. They believe in
rotation which he (Akpabio) is a
beneficiary, and that the Senate
seat is not rightly Essien Udim’s
•Ekpenyong
*Rerun a trap to make Akpabio lose appointme nt — Stakeholders
turn.”
Asikpo claimed that the people
of Essien Udim purposely voted
against Akpabio during the
elections, that it was only
reasoned ahead of the 2019
general elections that the Senate
seat should go to Obot Akara
where Chris Ekpenyong hails
from because the deputy
governor, Mr. Moses Ekpo, is
from Abak. “But in the right sense
of it Abak5, would have taken it.
After Ekpenyong, the next senate
seat will go to Abak5, that is the
position,” he stressed.
The PDP also chided the APC
for claiming that the electoral
umpire cancelled over 61,000
votes cast for Akpabio whereas
the total number of accredited
voters for that February 23, 2019
election was 19, 455, insisting
that those votes were cancelled
because they were unlawful and
indicated electoral fraud.
Some observers
suggest that
Akpabio may be
facing the
problem of
indecision,
especially as he
is expected to
resign his
appointment as
Minister, to go
for the exercise
Akpabio has all it takes to win
— APC supporters
However, supporters and members
of the APC are boasting that
Akpabio has all it takes to beat
Ekpenyong given his popularity
and the goodwill he enjoys
among his kinsmen of Essien
Udim.
A Chieftain of the party, Prince
David Benjamin, boasted, “I can
assure you that the people of
Essien Udim will come out and
massively vote for Godswill Obot
Akpabio. And I can foresee more
registered voters coming out for
accreditation during the rerun
and they will vote for Godswill
Akpabio”
Will Akpabio run or not?
However, there is uncertainty
whether or not Akpabio would
resign to re-contest the Akwa
Ibom Northwest Senate seat.
At the time of filing this report,
Senator Akpabio has not made
any formal statement on the
issue.
Some observers suggest that
Akpabio may be facing the
problem of indecision, especially
as he is expected to resign his
appointment as Minister, to go
for the exercise.
Some APC stakeholders in the
state, want the Resident Electoral
Commissioner, Mr Mike Igini,
removed as a condition to go for
the rerun.
A statement by Akwa Ibom
State Chairman of the APC, Mr.
Ini Okopido, immediately after
the judgement read in part:
“What is instructive about this
judgement is the
acknowledgement and
expressed declaration by a
superior court that election in
Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial
district was a sham; an indictment
of INEC.
“In other words, the Court is
saying that INEC was wrong to
have announced such a result.
Re-reun a set up against
Akpabio?
However, comments from some
stakeholders of Ikot Ekpene
federal constituency where both
Akpabio and Ekpenyong hails
from indicate that they view the
rerun as a distraction and maybe
a set up against Akpabio.
They fear that in the unlikely
event that Akpabio resigns to run
and in the end did not win, he
will be left with nothing, and
therefore that it is a risk for
Akpabio to resign his ministerial
appointment.
Ikot Ekpene federal
Constituency is made up of Ikot
Ekpene, Essien Udim, and Obot
Akara local councils.
A source privy to political
happenings in the area told
Vanguard: “The people of Ikot
Ekpene federal constituency
believe that those advising him
to continue to pursue his senate
ambition are trying to make him
lose both the ministerial
appointment and senate seat
and end up with nothing.
“This is because after he must
resigned he cannot get the
appointment back if he lost out.
Even if he wins, it also means
that we have lost the ministerial
position. When Akpabio was
appointed as minister our people
were happy that the fight brought
good thing after all, so he’ll not
expect us to be happy if he
resigns.”
Similarly, Chairman of a youth
group under the aegis of “Ikot
Ekpene Senatorial District Youths
Frontiers”, Mr Victor Mbebe,
advised Senator Akpabio not to
go for the re- run.
He said in a statement: “It is
surprising that one would rather
choose an office that only has a
N220million Zonal Intervention
projects allocated to it, to a
Ministry with a budget of
N23billion as presented by Mr.
President for the year 2020.
“It would interest the Minister
to note that we the people of Ikot
Ekpene senatorial district will not
fold our arms and watch this giant
position slip away. He should
know that resigning from his
ministerial position to contest the
rerun is highly catastrophic.
“We want to advise Chief
Godswill Akpabio to disappoint
his cosmetic supporters by not
resigning his position as
Minister for the rerun.”
Meanwhile the general
argument in the state is that
Akpabio would make great
impact as a Minister of Niger
Delta Affairs than as a senator
given the way he is already
going, trying to sanitize the
federal government agency.