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The Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC) has insisted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won Senate President, Godswill Akpabio’s local government, Essien Udim, in Saturday’s election.
The election has been a subject of controversy which has embarrassed the State Governor, Umo Eno, who’s of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He has received backlash and has been at the receiving end of what many have termed a fraud.
Eno was accused of hobnobbing with Akpabio who’s of the APC for political expediency as he will seek second term in 2027, something that has angered PDP leaderships and supporters in Abuja and the state.
Trouble started when the Chairman of AKISIEC, Aniedi Ikoiwak, declared Ntiedo Usoro of the APC as the elected candidate for Essien Udim LGA, while stating that the PDP reportedly won all other LGAs of the state.
Ikoiwak, who was already under pressure before the election from the APC overruled Inyang Ating, a professor from the University of Uyo, who served as the Returning Officer (RO) for the election in the LG who had declared the PDP’s candidate , Enobong Patrick as the winner.
THE WHISTLER reports that, Acting had declared that, “I hereby certify that I was the Returning Officer for the election held on the 5th of October 2024.
“The election was contested, and the candidates received the following votes: Hon. Ntiedo Usoro of the APC: 686 votes; Engr. Enobong Patrick Friday of the PDP: 55,612 votes.
“Engr. Enobong Patrick Friday, having complied with the requirements of the law and having scored the majority of votes, is hereby declared elected.
“He also received more than 25% of the votes in all 13 wards of Essien Udim. I so declare, and I hereby sign as the Returning Officer,” he had said.
But in what has been described as a show of shame and sham, Ikoiwak overruled him to declare the APC candidate as the winner without stating various scores as against what the returning officer gave as their respective scores.
The returning officer too was reportedly threatened and was not allowed to go to the collation centre where Ikoiwak declared the results for all the returning officers for the elections as he refused to do the directive given to him by AKISIEC.
He also reportedly refused to pick calls or answer calls when from the commission when it was learnt back at the collation centre that “he was doing the right thing and would announce the actual winner of the election,” something that angered AKISIEC.
Interesting, when the results were turned in, Ikoiwak announced individual scores from the candidates in ther local governments except Essien Udim raising serious integrity question that he was doing Eno’s bidding to pacify Akpabio.
But Ikoiwak denied the accusation rather insisting APC won and accused the returning officer for Essien Udim LG in the election as being a phony.
Ikoiwak explained that he had received a report from the Assistant Electoral Officer (AEO) that the Electoral Officer sent to the area had absconded with ballot materials sent to Essien Udim and hurriedly sent the AEO back with necessary materials to conduct the election and bring the result.
According to him, the RO for Essien Udim in the election was Prof Okon, who announced the election result for APC as 51,751 and PDP as 22,799 votes, results he did not announce in Sunday claiming were not available.
He alleged that, “The man who claimed to be the returning officer in Essien Udim was not on the list of appointed Returning Officers for the Saturday’s exercise, the winning margin by the PDP candidate on the video was too overwhelming to have denied the winner and his supporters did not revolt.
“It was when they discovered that the what the Polling Officer did in Essien Udim was discovered by AKISIEC, that they hurriedly went to somewhere in Ewet Housing, to do the video, using drivers and unidentified persons as their crowd to present what they presented to mislead the public.
“By the time they brought their result, they were told that Essien Udim’s result was already filed and I had insisted that results must be recorded on form 08D and that is what was accepted from all the LGAs,” he stated.
