2023: Just few days to elections, APC still without gov candidate in Akwa Ibom

According to the candidate lists that the Independent National Electoral Commission has so far made public, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is still without a governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State with less than a week until the general elections of 2023. (INEC).

On September 20, 2022, the Commission released the final lists of candidates for the presidential, senate, and house of representatives elections. The lists for the governorship and state house of assembly elections were released on October 4, 2022.

Between that time and February, INEC also published four changes to the final list.

The list of candidates for the affected constituencies is changed in accordance with the court’s orders under the provisions of Section 287 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution of 1999 (as amended).
Please be aware that the updated list replaces the versions that were previously published in the affected constituencies on September 20 and October 4, 2022, INEC stated on its website.

The APC’s governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom’s name slot, however, remained empty as it had been before.

Since the party’s primary in May 2022, the APC has never had a governorship candidate in the state recognized by INEC.
The ruling of a Federal High Court in Uyo, which had invalidated the nomination of Akanimo Udofia as the APC governorship candidate in the state, had been overturned by the Court of Appeal in Abuja on January 19.

Ita Enang, a former adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, filed the lawsuit while running for governor of the state’s party on May 26, 2022.

INEC had yet to announce Mr. Udofia as the APC candidate for the state’s governorship election in 2023 one month after the appellate court ruling.

When contacted on Saturday, Festus Okoye, the INEC spokesperson, chose not to comment on the situation.
APC speaks on the matter
Despite not being recognised by INEC, Mr Udofia had commenced his governorship campaign in the state shortly after the court victory.
Spokesperson for the APC in Akwa Ibom, Otoabasi Udo on Sunday said he was unaware that INEC was yet to publish Mr Udofia’s name as a candidate but said the development may be because of “administrative issues” at the Commission.
“Mr. Udofia did not run his campaign when we (the APC) had problems, but he is drawing support from the Appeal Court judgment to campaign,” said Mr. Udo, a lawyer.

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Imoh Akpan, the spokesperson for the Mr. Udofia governorship campaign council, claimed that there was a “lacuna” in the Court of Appeal’s decision, which the APC is currently working with INEC to address.

“Despite the Appeal Court’s decision in Mr. Udofia’s favor, the appellate court did not specifically order INEC to publish Mr. Udofia’s name as the party’s candidate for governor in the state.Dangote adbanner 728x90_2 (1)
“That is one lacuna that was left in the judgment of the appellate court,” Mr Akpan, a lawyer stated on Sunday adding that listing and publishing of candidate’s name was an “administrative responsibility of INEC.”

Mr Enang, who instituted the case after losing at the Appeal Court had proceeded to the Supreme Court, asking it to declare him the governorship candidate of APC in the state on the basis that Mr Udofia was not a member of the APC at the time the primary was conducted.

“Our view is in accordance with the law that when it comes to the determination of who a member of a political party is, it is the party affairs, the court cannot decide on who a member of a party is,” Mr Akpan, the spokesperson to Mr Udofia’s campaign, said.

Mr Akpan told our reporter that the APC had filed a cross appeal at the Supreme Court against the demands of Mr Enang.

“The original appellant in the case rising from the appellate court decision is Mr Enang, the law requires that if we have issues with that appeal we should file a respondents appeal but giving the time that the Supreme Court has to treat pre-election matters the wise thing is what the APC has done – to file a cross appeal – an appeal upon the appeal of Mr Enang.

“The meaning is that we also have issues with some aspect of the appellate court judgment, the totality of the judgment was in favour of Mr Udofia but there are few details that we want “Supreme Court to make pronouncement on – asking INEC to publish Mr Udofia’s name as the governorship candidate of the party.

“The candidature of a party is decided by that political party. Once a party holds a primary the outcome of that primary is that that party has a candidate,” Mr Akpan said adding that “Mr Udofia is the candidate of APC but has not been recognised by INEC.”

Backstory
INEC in Akwa Ibom had on 27 May 2022, a day after the APC governorship primary, sent a report to its headquarters in Abuja that the APC did not hold its primary.

“We wish to report that the APC governorship primary scheduled to hold on Thursday, 26 May 2022 at the Sheergrace Arena, Nsikak Eduok Avenue, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State did not hold at all,” Mike Igini, the then resident electoral commissioner in the state had said in the letter.

Mr Igini had led the monitoring team of the Commission in company of the police commissioner in the state to the venue to monitor the exercise but were informed that the APC election committee were held up by an angry group of party members who were engaging in a fight over the control of the material along a major road in Uyo.

The APC election committee members were later rescued by the State Security Services (SSS) who took them to their office that night.

Chairman of the election committee, Tunde Ajibulu had told Mr Igini on phone that he was unable to leave the SSS office because he was traumatised and could not go ahead with the primary.

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Mr Igini, after briefing reporters on the development, left the venue of the primary at about 10:30 p.m., but the material was later released to a faction of the party who conducted the primary around midnight in a different venue.

Mr Udofia, who left the Peoples Democratic Party to join the APC in Akwa Ibom barely two weeks, was declared winner of the primary election.

INEC, who relied on the report of the exercise submitted by its state office in Uyo, had since then refused to recognise Mr Udofia as the governorship candidate of the APC in the state.