The All
Progressives Congress, APC, has made a U-turn on its earlier decision not to
participate in the local government election in Akwa Ibom State which is
scheduled for
November 11.
“APC has not
boycotted nor withdrawn from the election,” the state branch of the party said
in a press statement issued on Sunday night by its spokesperson, Edet Bassey.
“We,
therefore, call on our members who aspire to contest the Local Government
election to remain calm and continue their consultations.”
The party
insisted that the Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission, headed by
Gloria Ukpong, couldn’t be trusted to conduct a free, fair and credible
election and that it was going to court to challenge her headship of the
commission.
“APC has
very strong reservations about the status, character, integrity, and probity of
the leadership of AKISIEC as currently constituted to conduct a free, fair,
credible and democratically acceptable local government election Premiumtimes reported.
“Our
reservations are predicated on antecedents of the Chief Electoral Commissioner
who is alleged to have an unenviable reputation of being a willing accomplice
in the perpetration of electoral fraud in two previous local government
elections in the state.
“APC has
absolutely no trust and confidence in the impartiality of a Chief Electoral
Commissioner who had delivered twice (2007 and 2012) to the satisfaction of the
PDP and was, contrary to the law, retained to do same in 2017,” the party said
in the statement.
Akwa Ibom
State is controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The 31 local
government councils in the state have been run for about two years now by
chairmen handpicked by the state governor, Udom Emmanuel.
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