Akpabio Can’t Win A Rerun -Group
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Akwa Ibom Liberation Movement (AILM), a foremost socio-political group in Akwa Ibom State says Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs cannot win a rerun election in his senatorial district even if it was conducted ten times.
The group in a statement by its secretary general, Solomon Abasiekong in reaction to the nullification of the Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district election by the court of appeal, said Akpabio and his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, know that they did not have enough grassroots support to win the rerun.
The court of appeal in Calabar on Saturday 9th November 2019 had ordered a rerun for the senatorial election in Essien Udim, one of the 10 local government areas in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
Akpabio who was defeated in the senatorial election with about 36,000 by Senator Chris Ekpenyong, a former deputy governor of the state, prayed the court to nullify the election.
AILM said Akpabio and the APC were celebrating the nullification of the election in Essien Udim Local Government half-heartedly because they would not win the rerun.
“The losers in the election are half-heartedly celebrating the judgment of the appeal court ordering a rerun because the APC and its candidate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, know that it does not have the grassroots support to win the election even if it were to be conducted a tenth time”, the groups says
The group challenged Akpabio to prove his political worth in the rerun if he truly won the election, added that the nullification of the election by the appeal court had vindicated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and further confirmed reports by observers that election in Essien Udim, Akapbio’s Local government, was marred by violence and irregularities.
AILM has called on the people of Essien Udim Local Government Area to defend the mandate it freely gave to Ekpenyong and the PDP during the return.