. Akpabio Alleges: INEC’s Is Biased Against Me
. PDP: Results Show Ekpenyong is the true Leader
From Akanimore Kufre , Uyo
For the second time in a back-to-back contest, Senator Christopher Ekpenyong, Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has again floored Chief Godswill Akpabio of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in yesterday’s re-run election for Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial district held in Essien Udim local government Council of the State.
The elections which took place just in Essien Udim local council area of Akwa Ibom state came with surprises, shock, allegations and counter allegations by both the APC and PDP. It all, Ekpenyong popularly called Ukarakpa( meaning the largest whale that controls the ocean) defeated Akpabio who is equally popularly known as Nta Nta ( meaning the Stars of the sky).
Announcing the results on Sunday, INEC said the PDP Candidate, Senator Chris Ekpenyong, scored 134,717 votes to defeat Chief Godswill Akpabio of the APC who polled 83,820 votes. With this results, Chief Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs has decisively lost his bid to return to the Senate for a second term.
Reactions have continued to trail the election outcome. Some Akwa Ibom people who spoke with The New Diplomat say it shows that “the largest whale that controls the ocean has finally subdued the Stars of the Sky in this epic battle for political authority of Akwa Ibom NorthWest Senatorial zone”.
While the PDP is in celebration mood, the APC counters, alleging electoral bias against Chief Akpabio and other contestants by INEC. Chief Ini Okopido, Chairman of APC in the State accused INEC of bias. He said: “ Mike Igini, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC has shown unprecedented bias as INEC REC. If he conducts any election, APC will always withdraw. We don’t have any confidence in him. We are so dissatisfied by the conduct of INEC in Akwa Ibom…”
The election which some observers say was characterized by violence and ballot-stealing has however come with lots of implications for both APC and PDP in Akwa Ibom State. While most people in Akwa Ibom describe it as symbolizing the whale’s (Epenyong) final triumph over the stars (Akpabio) in the battle for the control of AkwaIbom North West Senatorial district, it has left the APC tragically with no electoral seats in Akwa Ibom State.
(See electoral map of Akwa Ibom State and how the two parties currently stand: PDP=3, APC=0).
However, prior to the re-run, Akpabio had alleged bias by the INEC , and insisted that he was no longer interested in a re-run poll, and called for a substitution. But the electoral body had reportedly rebuffed the move, stressing that the time span allocated for substitution of candidates in the re-run election had since elapsed, and that it was therefore impossible to substitute Akpabio with another candidate.
However, APC lost in all the seats contested yesterday. According to INEC, the PDP candidate for the Ikot Ekpene/Essien Udim/Obot Akara Federal Constituency election, Nsikak Ekong, scored 45,366 votes, while his closest rival, Emmanuel Akpan of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 22,757. For the Essien Udim State Constituency, the PDP candidate, Esse Umoh, scored 18,999 votes, while the APC candidate, Nse Ntuen polled 7,108 votes.
PDP’s spokesman Barrister Ini Emmebong says that the results of yesterday’s election has clearly established that Ekpenyong has eventually triumphed as the undisputed political leader and titan of Akwa Ibom NorthWest Senatorial district. According to him going by previous results in 9 LGAs that were not affected by the tribunal’s judgment, it was obvious that there “ was no way Akpabio and his group could have rivaled Ekpenyong and PDP statistically even if they won all the results in Essien Udim hence he(Akpabio) was claiming that they wanted to withdraw but INEC saw through that sham.”
Recall that Peter Ogban, the INEC returning officer for the Akwa Ibom State 2019 election while earlier declaring Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom State winner of the election, had said the Ekpenyong polled a total of 118,215 votes to defeat Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, who scored 83,158 votes.
Not satisfied with the outcome, Akpabio headed to the Election Tribunal to challenge the election, alleging that the poll was marred by irregularities. But the Election Tribunal upheld the election of Ekpenyong(Ukarakpa). Akpabio then approached the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal however ordered a re-run in Essien Udim local government area within 90 days.
For analysts, the current election results is a symbolic case study of how the whale, ( Ekpenyong aka Ukarakpa), the largest marine mammal which typically symbolizes power, leadership, strength and someone’s ability to accomplish goals has politically dimmed the stars(Akpabio aka Nta Nta) , that bright and powerful astronomical object that is made up of luminous spheroid of plasma that is held together by its own gravity which encapsulates brightness, visibility, and lightness over darkness.
