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Akwa Ibom APC quakes as court bars Akpabio, Udofia from senatorial, gubernatorial elections

Anthony Iwuoma

The spate of disqualifications of the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections continued yesterday with the disqualifications of former minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, and Akanimo Udofia, as senatorial and gubernatorial candidates of the party, respectively.

In the case of Akpabio, three-member panel of justices of the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal upturned the decision of Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, and held that Akpabio did not file a proof of arguments within the time provided by the rules.

Consequently, Akpabio was, in the ruling read by Justice Danlami Senchi, disqualified as the APC candidate for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.

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Also, the court ruled that Akpabio, being a presidential aspirant of the APC, could not participate in the valid primaries of the party held on May 27 and monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which produced Udom Ekpoudom, as the candidate.

In a related development, a Federal High Court in Uyo also nullified the candidature of Udofia, as the gubernatorial candidate of the APC in Akwa Ibom State.

Justice Agatha Okeke held that Udofia’s nomination was unlawful and could not stand.

Senator Ita Enang, a former presidential aide, had dragged the party to court for declaring Udofia as it’s gubernatorial candidate in Akwa Ibom State.

Among other issues, Enang, who had contended that Udofia did not take part in all the processes of the APC’s gubernatorial primaries, questioned the legality of declaring Udofia as the winner, adding that he was not even a member of the APC, having contested the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party, few days before being announced as the APC candidate.

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Enang also stated that the said primaries which Udofia reportedly won was not monitored by the INEC.

Delivering judgment, Justice Okeke agreed with the Enang’s submissions that Udofia did not satisfy the provisions of the electoral laws, stipulating that he ought to have been a member of the APC for at least 30 days before his nomination.

The court also held that the waiver, which Udofia allegedly got from the APC, was  signed by unknown persons.

The judge then nullified the  Udofia’s candidature and ordered a fresh primary election within 14 days, adding that Udofia should not be part of it.

The ruling APC has suffered similar disqualifications of it’s candidates in some other states, such as Rivers and Taraba.

 

 

 

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