A coalition of candidates for the January 25, 2020 rerun election in Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial district will be formally meeting Senator Godswill Akpabio, the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, ahead of the election.
Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom, was until now the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial election. He, however, opted out of the rerun which was ordered by the Appeal Court sitting in Calabar.
The coalition of senatorial candidates is seeking the blessings of the minister who is from Essien Udim, the affected local government area where the rerun election is expected to take place. Udim is considered as one of the stronghold of the former governor.
Before now, Akpabio had garnered 83,158 votes, while the opposition PDP candidate, Chris Ekpenyong polled 118,215 votes. Akpabio’s council area boasts of 126,000 voting strength, which the court had argued was more than enough to declare an actual winner.
The coalition is seeking to wrestle power from the incumbent PDP senator Ekpenyong. Igbere TV reliably gathered that the group is being sponsored by top businessmen in the country and aggrieved members of the PDP in Akwa Ibom.
Chairman of the coalition, Comrade Imoh Ekpo informed Igbere TV that the group is seeking the blessings of Senator Akpabio to brighten the chances of the candidates in the race. The meeting which was earlier fixed for January 4, he said, will now hold weekend.
A senior aide of the honourable minister, who spoke confidently while also pleading anonymity, confirmed the development to our correspondent.
“He (Akpabio) may be out of the race physically but he is still 100 per cent in the race ‘spiritually’, his pride is at stake. He cannot fold his hands and watch Ekpenyong and PDP ridicule him in his backyard”, said the aide.
The rerun election is to be conducted strictly in Essien Udim, Akpabio’s local government area, which is totally out of reach for the PDP candidate, Ekpenyong who hails from Obot Akara local government.
Checks by Igbere TV on Monday shows that the Senator won’t be voting on the election day, neither would there be an opportunity for him to influence the outcome directly, coming from an entirely different local government.
Investigations by this online medium equally shows that majority of other political party candidates for the rerun election, who are also members of the coalition, are from Akpabio’s Essien Udim local government.
According to the coalition chairman, “I’m fully convinced that the people of Essien Udim will never leave their own sons from the council and be voting candidate from another local government. This election is going to be conducted in just their local government, so I am certain they will take the lead.
“The chances of Chris Ekpenyong returning as senator is very slim. Don’t forget that the (126,000) voting strength in Essien Udim is big enough to declare anybody winner in any given election”, he added.
Meanwhile, Igbere TV gathered that the people of Essien Udim have met with other political parties and mobilizing heavily to deliver bloc vote for a particular candidate from Abak3. Abak3 is said to have been ‘marginalized’ for a long time and stakeholders in the area see this as opportunity to correct the ‘injustice.’
Already, a high-level committee has been set up comprising of prominent grassroot politicians as mobilization chairmen with the sole mandate to mobilize and deliver at least 500 voters/votes per unit for the elections.
The coalition is also banking to take advantage of the alleged rift between Senator Ekpenyong and his party, PDP hierarchy. The Senator is said to have failed to return home to familiarize with his constituents ahead Jan. 25 poll, and with no viable project to boast with in the constituency.
Our source said the ruling PDP in Akwa Ibom had some time requested for funds from Ekpenyong to prosecute the forthcoming election but the senator rebuffed the party leadership.
His performance in the February 2019 election is said to be largely on the goodwill and effort of Governor Udom Emmanuel, but with the Governor’s second term mandate sealed by the Supreme court, and Akpabio out of the race, insiders say Udom does not want Ekpeyong back.
Contacted, a source close to the senator, who pleaded anonymity, said Ekpenyong had been calling on his supporters to give him sympathy votes owing to the demise of his wife. The source, however, said most of the supporters are opposed to the call.
