Akwa Ibom APC seeks relocation of tribunal to Abuja

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom state has written the attorney general of the federal and minister for justice, demanding the relocation of the election tribunal from the state to Abuja over alleged partisanship.

Ini Okopido, the state chairman of the party, made the demand in a letter where he cited alleged attempts to perpetuate electoral fraud by Mike Igini, INEC’s resident electoral commissioner (REC), in collusion with the state government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He claimed the PDP was on a mission to destroy electoral materials needed to substantiate the election petition of the APC in the state.

“We observe with deep regrets that since Mr. Mike Igini superintended over the worst general elections ever conducted in Akwa Ibom State, that was fraught with manifest irregularities and wide spread electoral infractions, the REC is now unveiling a grand scheme to thwart and create a chaotic environment to pave way for the pervasion of justice,” said Okopido.

“We have been reliably informed that the REC is now intimidating electoral officers who participated in the just concluded general elections in the State, particularly, Collation Officers, Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs), Presiding Officers (POs) and Assistant Presiding Officers (APOs), handing over their phone numbers to hired assassins and PDP killer squad to forcefully coerce them to concoct and fabricate false reports of violence, ballot paper snatching, all in  a bid to justify the clandestine activities of Mr. Mike Igini days after the purported declaration of results, seeing that unit results will expressly show that candidates of the All Progressives Congress clearly won the elections by the votes directly delivered at the polling units across the state.

“This latest action by the leadership of INEC in Akwa Ibom State has vindicated our stand expressed in various foras before the general elections that Mr. Mike Igini is a biased umpire, heavily compromised by the Akwa Ibom State Government to truncate the smooth conduct of a free and fair elections.”

The APC chairman said INEC under Igini “cannot guarantee credibility and the ethos of fair play as demonstrated with this plot hatched to frustrate the electoral process.”