The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Mike Igini, has been warned to strictly obey laws of the land as an electoral umpire and not behave like a politician supporting one party against the other.
Igini was on Friday accused by Hon Eseme Eyiboh, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Eket Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State for the 2023 general elections, of “contemptuously but unsuccessfully making himself a Supreme Court with the intention of upturning a judgement of the Federal High Court.”
Eyiboh accused Igini of “selling the false claims the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, did not ‘monitor’ the party’s gubernatorial primaries that produced Mr Akan Udofia as candidate.”
Eyiboh, in a press briefing on Friday, at the E-Library, Uyo, tagged: “Fair Hearing”, stated that the failure of Igini to have personally observed the conduct of the governorship primaries, could neither invalidate the process, nor discredit the emergence of Udofia.
Eyiboh, former spokesman of the House of Representatives, said: “It is not true that APC does not have a governorship and other candidates for the 2023 general elections.”
“The Akwa Ibom chapter of the party had followed all stipulated procedures in the conduct of the various primaries. At this point in time, it is pertinent to seek answers to some specific questions.
“How could Mike Igini have gone to the Sheer Grace Arena for the governorship primaries of APC? Was that the official venue contained in the circular issued by the Stephen Ntukekpo led executive?”
The former spokesperson of the Nsima Ekere Campaign Organisation during the 2019 election, explained that no law-abiding citizen disobeys a court judgement, except those who have no regards to the rule of law.
He recalled the judgement of the Abuja Federal High Court delivered by Justice Taiwo Taiwo on March 16, 2022 which declared Ntukekpo as the Chairman of APC in Akwa Ibom State.
Eyiboh recalled that the 42-page judgement was explicit, a situation which, be said, made the former secretary of the party, Senator John Udoedehe, to withdraw his appeal, which further led to its dismissal by the Appeal Court.
“What we should be interested in is, “Why should Mike Igini constitute himself into a Supreme Court to upturn a judgement which appeal was further dismissed by the Appeal Court?
“While it is the duty of a political party to notify INEC on its political activities, it cannot drag the Commission into coming to observe them. It is the responsibility of INEC to go to the designated venues to carry out their own duty.
“In the event that Mike Igini left the approved venue of the primaries to go to Sheer Grace Arena, you can then appreciate the fact that he may have been on a voyage of self-destruct”, he said.
Speaking about the emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio as candidate of the party for Akwa Ibom Northwest District, Eyiboh stated that the National Secretary of the party, Senator Iyiola Onisore, issued a circular indicating that the party would reconduct the primaries.
Eyiboh observed that the withdrawal of the winner of the previously conducted election, Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, necessitated the reconduct and that “such could not have amounted to candidate substitution as falsely peddled by Mr Igini.”
He said: “We should applaud and glorify Senator Godswill Akpabio for the strategic role he played in the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the presidential candidate of APC. Indeed, this shall bring enormous benefits for the entire Akwa Ibom people”.
He stressed that APC as a political party, was populated by people who have high regard for the judiciary.
“That’s why the party decided that our delegates could be excused from voting, when some people around 4pm of June 7, secured a court injunction, against the participation of the Akwa Ibom delegates at the presidential primaries”, he said.
He pointed out that this could not have been a case with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which Igini undoubtedly identifies as an active member.
Eyiboh declared that Igini who was preparing to conclude his service year in a few months, was fully engaging in “retirement politics”, but regretted that his “nuisance was a destruct of the institutional integrity of INEC”.
