One of the gubernatorial aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Akwa Ibom,Senator Ita Enang, and other aspirants have frowned at the emergence of Udofia as party’s candidate in next year’s general elections.
Speaking during a joint media briefing by gubernatorial aspirants of the party, the immediate past Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta, Senator Ita Enang and Augustine Utuk, the aggrieved party members said the exercise further lost its legality as INEC did not monitor the purported primary as required by the law
“I and others are jointly addressing this press conference on the state of the party and matters relating to the gubernatorial nomination process entitled “The nullity and illegality of APC governorship, National and State Assemblies primaries in Akwa Ibom State.
“We the undernamed present here as gubernatorial aspirants of APC in Akwa Ibom State do appreciate the national office of our party in handling the protracted issues in our state leading to the primaries and regretting to say that it has rather foisted a possible nullity and illegality on the processes of the primaries that may lead to the party not having a candidate in any of the elections and thus not being on the ballot in the 2023 general elections.
“This may foist the Rivers State or the Zamfara state scenario on the party on the grounds following:
“The Rivers and Zamfara situation was on an account of the internal issues in the party and disputation as to who were to conduct the primaries, or whether the primaries was conducted in accordance with the Law, and in accordance with the regulations laid down by the party.
“And that if it was not conducted in accordance with that, whether the candidates produced in those processes are legally candidates of the party and whether that party can be said to have been on the ballot contesting that election.
“Now the grounds for this are, that one of the purported gubernatorial aspirants is not an APC, but a PDP member, having contested and lost the PDP primaries of the previous day, May 25, 2022. And the following day May 26, 2022, he was purportedly to be on the ballot for the APC primaries as illegally declared.
“I’m sure you must have heard many times by almost all the members of the party, stating that this new name Udofia is not a member of the party. He is a member of the PDP. This matter was brought to the attention to the national office of the party that handles the situation.
“We also worry about the legality of the steps that the nomination committee would have taken. The INEC is by Law mandated to monitor the presidential, gubernatorial, national and State Assemblies of all Political parties. Yesterday INEC and Commissioner of Police gave indications that they will be with the party at the Sheergrace Arena, led by Mr Augustine Ekanem as Chairman.
“Before the materials arrived, there was stalemate on the way and everyone made steps to rescue the materials, so the materials did not go to either Sheergrace Arena or the Ekpo Obot office where people were gathered.
“Therefore if the Stephen Ntukekpo led state executive purport to conduct a nomination process, not monitored by INEC, and the CP to authenticate the exercise and sign that the nomination was conducted, the entire process is suspect, void, and not capable of producing candidates that can be accepted by INEC.
“This, therefore, foists a situation where the party leadership must meet and agree on a middle course and interest of contending families within the party.
“I told the DSS why a midnight Guber primaries were not feasible, shocked 20 mins later they took the materials to an illegal venue and later declared Udofia winner,” Enang explained