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The minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has giving reasons why he may not participate in the Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial District rerun election.
Giving his reasons, the former governor of Akwa Ibom said if the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) do not replace the present resident electoral commissioner in the state then he might as well disassociate himself from the rerun.
In February’s general elections, Senator Akpabio, the former Akwa Ibom State governor who had defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), lost his seat to Senator Chris Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). However, Senator Akpabio, who has since been appointed a minister, took the case to the elections tribunal, where he got a favourable judgement.
READ ALSO: Election Tribunal Dismisses Akpabio Petition, uphold Ekpeyong’s election
Ruling on the case, the elections tribunal ordered fresh polls in Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, saying the original polls there were flawed. This judgement was upheld by the Nigerian Court of Appeal, last Saturday, which ruled that Senator Ekpenyong did not win in Essien Udim and therefore ordered a rerun in 90 days.
However, Akpabio who communicated his stands on the rerun election through the Director-General of the Godswill Akpabio Campaign Organisation, Dr Chris Akpan, said him and the APC may boycott the election unless Inec replaces the Akwa Ibom State resident electoral commissioner Mike Igini.
“What will be the need for Akpabio to participate in the rerun with Igini as the state Inec REC? Of course he is going to repeat the fraud he committed in the last election.
READ MORE: NDDC Interim Committee: Sack Godswill Akpabio Now, APC State Chairmen tell Buhari
“We insist that there must be a level playing ground for everybody and with Igini the ground will not be level so we won’t participate. That is the position of my party and also my position as the director-general of Akpabio’s campaign organisation.
“Why shouldn’t Inec do away with him? We had complained about this man but they allowed him work against the APC and its candidates in the last election.”
