By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
The Electoral Act 2023 may be under attack as failed presidential aspirants including former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Obong Godswill Akpabio have made 360 degrees turning to hijack Senatorial or Gubernatorial tickets of their political parties from the original winners weeks after the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the primaries have elapsed.
This is even as there is tension in Akwa Ibom state All Progressives Congress (APC) after the party purportedly conducted another primary election in the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial
(Ikot Ekpene) Zone on Thursday.
In the said “rerun primary election”, Akpabio was declared the winner for the Akwa Ibom North West Zone at the party’s primary held on Thursday evening, where he was said to have scored a total of 478 votes to emerge winner, beating Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Udom Udo Ekpoudom (Rtd) and Sir Joseph Akpan who scored three and one votes respectively, while 11 votes were declared invalid.
But there have uproar in Akwa Ibom APC chapter and the entire state since the news emerged on Friday that Akpabio who was on national television during the week participating in the APC presidential primary election at the Eagle Square Abuja could after 24 hours return to Akwa Ibom state to pick a Senatorial ticket when the time for the primary has elapsed.
More curious was he fact that the May 28, 2022 primary election which held across the 108 wards in the 10 Local Government Areas of the District and produced DIG Ekpoudom as the the winner was witnessed by INEC Election Monitoring Personnel which has turned in its report.
In fact, the INEC report obtained by Prompt News Online on Friday in Abuja showed clearly that
DIG Ekpoudom scored a total of 338 votes; Sir Joseph Akpan, 12 votes and Ekperikpe Ekpo, 4 votes respectively. Akpabio was not on the ballot box.
Also, INEC Monitoring Team’s reports submitted to the INEC Secretary in Abuja on the conduct of the Governorship, Senatorial and House of Assembly primary elections in Akwa Ibom state clearly stated that DIG Ekpoudom won the election and remain the authentic APC candidate for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial Zone contrary to the purported Thursday’s “rerun” which INEC Akwa Ibom state did not monitor.
Prompt News Online checks reveal that the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu was locked up in a meeting in Abuja on the same day with 36 States and FCT Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).
All eyes are now on INEC Headquarters to resolve the matter using the Electoral Act 2022 which gave timelines when the primary elections ahead of the general elections will be conducted.
