Akwa Ibom Rerun: How Akpabio failed to procure court order to remove Mike Igini as INEC REC to pave way for rigging

Akwa Ibom Rerun: How Akpabio failed to procure court order to remove Mike Igini as INEC REC to pave way for rigging

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LIST OF APPLICATIONS FOR REGULARISATION OF AREA COUNCIL LAND DOCUMENTS NULLIFIED/CANCELLED BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF FCT

It is no longer news that Godswill Akpabio, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs suffered the worst political defeat any politician of his standing would ever experience last /Saturday, January 25th, 2020.

LIST OF APPLICATIONS FOR REGULARISATION OF AREA COUNCIL LAND DOCUMENTS NULLIFIED/CANCELLED BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF FCT

At the Appeal Court ordered re-run election in his local government Area-Essien Udim, for the Senate seat of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial district, the Ikot Ekpene Federal House and the Essien Udim State House Seat, Akpabio was roundly defeated and rejected by his people.

Not only did he lose his unit, he lost his ward as well, bringing huge ridicule to his much vaunted popularity with his people.

It was a fitting end to an otherwise seemingly good political run, but which came crashing when on August 8th, 2018, he defected to the APC, promising to empty the PDP political barn, but failed woefully to attract any meaningful politician of note in the State.

In the February 23rd, 2019 Senatorial election, he was defeated by the PDP Candidate, Chris Ekpenyong prompting him to go to the Tribunal, which again upheld the election of Senator Ekpenyong.

The Court of Appeal, eventually upheld the election of Chris Ekpenyong in other local governments of the senatorial district t but ordered a re-run in Akpabio’s Essien Udim Local Government Area, which took place last Saturday, January 25th, 2020.
Fearing imminent defeat, Akpabio had weeks before the election, wrote to INEC that due to his other job as a Minister, that he was withdrawing from the election and his name should be substituted.

INEC told him pointedly that his name would not be substituted, that he was still the bonafide candidate of the APC.
Knowing that the Resident Electoral Officer (REC) in the State, Barrister Mike Igini, a forthright and transparent man of deep values and integrity, a man whose track record of organizing free and fair elections across the nation is nationally known, would not bend to his shenanigans, Akpabio was said to have devised a last minute joker to procure a court order that would have removed Mike Igini and brought in a plaint and amenable REC who would be willing to do his biddings and rig the elections in his favour.

According to a close source who was privy to the arrangement, but who later reneged on the plot and spilled the beans “Akapbio was elated, he felt very confident that he had finally gotten rid of Mike Igini. He was assured by a judge that a court order would be granted, removing Igini and he was seen boasting and thump-cheating himself.

Friday came and having waited for the court order to be produced but failed, Akpabio was said to have been crest-fallen and was moved to tears. All efforts for him to get the judge to issue the court order were rebuffed as the judge told him he would not be a part of an illegality. Akpabio knew his game was up. The next day, in spite of all the bravado he did, he was roundly defeated, his people rejected him, and he was booed and jeered. The security agents and his cousin, Superintendent of Police Idorenyin Akpabio and his cousin Barrister Ibanga Akapbio all failed in the evil plot to rig the election.

The INEC officials and other ad-hoc staff who were earlier abducted were eventually freed.

Akpabio today, is said to be the butt of jokes and an embarrassment to his colleagues in the APC and the Federal Executive Council. “He is a political spent-force; one of his colleagues was overhead sneering at him.