By Deborah Hassan
365Daily- The Akwa Ibom Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mike Igini, has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not conduct governorship primaries in the state.
This means that the APC does not have a candidate for the 2023 governorship election in Akwa Ibom.
In a report on the primaries dated May 27, 2022, the commission stated: “We wish to report that the APC governorship primary scheduled to hold on Thursday, May 26, 2022, at the Sheergrace Arena, Nsikak Eduok Avenue, Uyo, did not hold because the APC primary election committee did not come to the venue and did not hold the primary in any other venue monitored by the commission.
“The Resident Electoral Commissioner, the Commissioner of Police and the State INEC Monitoring Committee were present at the venue for the duration earlier stated, but left at about 10:30pm after the Chairman of the Primary Election Committee notified the REC on phone that they would not come to the venue.
The Cable on Saturday, June 11, 2022 quoted Igini as saying the commission was later informed of another primary which held at a different venue, but added that INEC officials didn’t monitor the exercise.
He said: “It is not INEC that conducts party primaries. We only monitor. It is the APC that said they could not do the primary, so we said okay. By the time we woke up in the morning, they said at some location, they have done governorship primary. We are not aware of it; we didn’t monitor it.
“Having said they have done so, we are required to write our report. That report is what we wrote and submitted to Abuja.”
The report added that despite the “multitude of delegates” present at the Sheergrace Arena, the APC election committee said they would not conduct the exercise there and reportedly moved to one Obot Street venue for the primary.
Akan Udofia, who recently defected to the APC from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was announced as the party’s governorship candidate on May 27.
However, INEC has maintained that its officials didn’t monitor that exercise.
The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the party has been immersed in a leadership crisis between factions loyal to former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, and former National Secretary of the APC Caretaker Committee, John Akpanudoedehe.
Following parallel elections held in October 2021, two sets of executives emerged; one led by Stephen Ntukekpo (loyal to Akpanudoedehe) and Austin Ekanem (Loyal to Akpabio).
In April 2022, National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, swore in Ntukekpo as the Chairman, despite an appeal court ruling ordering the parties involved to maintain status quo pending determination of the matter.
Akpanudoedehe is the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), having defected from the APC.