Fiery Lagos based Legal Practitioner and Human Rights Activist, Mr Inibehe Effiong, on Friday, took a swipe at the recent partisan actions of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Mike Igini, on developments in the state chapter of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), saying, ” Igini has arrogated judicial authority to himself.”
Effiong stated this while featuring on the Arise TV News programme on the recent happenings within the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the APC.
According to Effiong, ” where I disagree with Mike Igini, is the way he has projected himself in this dispute. He has gone beyond the purview of an unbiased umpire.”
He noted further that,” there is a perception in Akwa Ibom State that Mike Igini, is sympathetic to the government in power in Akwa Ibom State. I don’t know whether that is true or not. But that perception, Effiong stressed, is being fuelled, that perception is given life to when you have the REC of INEC, in a state, going on International Television Stations, granting interviews and calling Press Conferences, to speak on a matter that is clearly partisan and being adjudicated.”
Speaking further, Effiong stressed that, ” those actions do not give him out as somebody who has no stake, who has no interest in the matter. I am not comfortable with Igini going to the point of arrogating judicial authority to himself”.
In his contribution, Barrister Imo Akpan, who also featured with Effiong, shed more light on the purported emergence of a retired Police Chief, DIG Udom Ekpoudom, as the candidate of the party for the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
According to Akpan, “when somebody claims to be the Senatorial candidate of the party for Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, the questions you should ask him is, when was your primary conducted, who ordered for the conduct of such primary?”
“For the records, the time table released and approved by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party for the conduct of Senatorial Primaries across the country, fixed the 28th of May for the conduct of the exercise nationwide.
“In fact members of the Election Committee, were inaugurated in the morning of 28th May, but Ekpoudom, who belongs to the illegal group led by Austin Ekanem, claimed the primary, which purportedly elected him, as the candidate, took place on the 27th of May, 2022.
Based on the above, Akpan reiterated that Ekpoudom, was never the Senatorial Candidate of the party as he is currently claiming, because the delegates who purportedly elected him, were not known to law and the party.”
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