The Akwa Ibom chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has rejected the result of the state governorship election announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
INEC had on Monday declared Gov. Udom Emmanuel winner of the election held on Saturday, March 9.
The party accused the PDP of manipulating the results.
A statement signed by the chairman of the party, Ini Okopido, Said: “The result of the governorship and state house of assembly elections in the state, as obtained from our agents across the state, clearly shows that the All Progressives Congress won in 26 out of the 31 local government areas of the state.”
The party also accused INEC of conniving with the PDP.
“The commission, in collusion with the PDP, committed an electoral coup against the people of Akwa Ibom State by publishing and announcing such results that has no bearing with the results as counted and announced at the various units in the state. INEC, partnering with the PDP simply changed the figures that were clearly at variance with the results counted and announced at the polling units in the state as obtained by our agents at the units.”
Read the full statement below:
I most humbly welcome you to this press briefing on the outcome of the just concluded governorship and the state house of assembly elections. We appreciate all your efforts and sincerely urge you to remain steadfast in your support and cherished commitment to progressive ideals of politics in the country.
You are all witnesses to the political developments that culminated in the 2019 general elections that took place in Akwa Ibom State. You are equally aware and had been informed of the consistent complaints by the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State of the intrigues and the outrageous alliances between the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the People’s Democratic Party and the government of Akwa Ibom State in the build up to the general elections. You also witnessed the barefaced collusion between INEC and PDP during the Presidential and National Assembly elections, during which spurious results were released in favour of PDP contrary to the will of the people of Akwa Ibom State, freely expressed in those elections.
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Recall gentlemen of the press that the APC in the state had maintained its lack of confidence in the electoral umpire, INEC that was manifestly corrupt, unashamedly hobnobbing with the PDP and criminally tied as an appendage of the Akwa Ibom State Government in the election processes. We had told the world that INEC in Akwa Ibom State had no credibility and integrity to deliver free, fair and credible elections to the people of our state. Today our party has been vindicated.
The Independent National Electoral Commission in the state yesterday, March 10, 2019 committed the most embarrassing electoral fraud ever conceived since the return to democratic rule in Nigeria in 1999 by announcing concocted and spurious results of the governorship and state house of assembly elections. The commission, in collusion with the PDP, committed an electoral coup against the people of Akwa Ibom State by publishing and announcing such results that has no bearing with the results as counted and announced at the various units in the state. INEC, partnering with the PDP simply changed the figures that were clearly at variance with the results counted and announced at the polling units in the state as obtained by our agents at the units.
The result of the governorship and state house of assembly elections in the state, as obtained from our agents across the state, clearly shows that the All Progressives Congress won in 26 out of the 31 local government areas of the state. The result showed a remarkable closeness in the number of votes polled by each of the two major political parties. That closeness was even possible because of the amount of underhand tactics of the PDP, multiple voting, vote buying, deployment of violence of unprecedented dimension, arson and killings and in most areas snatching of ballot boxes, and manifest manipulation and non use of the card reader machines to achieve their pre-determined result. Despite all these, Akwa Ibom people still went ahead to reject the PDP and voted massively for the APC, thus the overwhelming victory they gave to the APC.
Therefore, our party rejects the sham and fictitious result as announced by INEC in Akwa Ibom State, as it was contrived, manipulated and concocted to suit the unholy alliances between the commission and the PDP. We rather insist on the result of the elections from the field, which gave our party an overwhelming victory in 26 local government areas.
The All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State hereby vehemently rejects the purported results as released by INEC in the state. We call on INEC to recourse to the part of honour to cancell the election results forthwith to avoid any breakdown of law and order.
We thank all APC members, our supporters, our agents at the various levels who worked hard for our victory that has been denied.
Finally, we praise the courage and resilience of Akwa Ibom people, who despite monetary inducement, intimidation and physical attacks, still stood with the APC and cast their votes for the party, which resulted in the victory APC recorded at the various units across the state. Our firm resolve and undertaking is that we shall retrieve the victory they gave to the APC through every legitimate means.
