Akpabio returns as A’Ibom governor

Posted by admin Akwa Ibom, Elections 2011, NNP Elections 2011 Updates, State News Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Governor Godswill Akpabio was yesterday evening declared winner of last Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections in Akwa Ibom State. In making the declaration, the state returning officer, Professor [Mrs] Comfort Ekpo announced that the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] scored 957,585 votes to beat its closest rival Action Congress of Nigeria [ACN] which polled 163,449 votes ,while the next party, Congress for Progressive Change [CPC] scored 15660 votes.

She said Akpabio got the required 25 percent in all 31 local councils in the state and had thus met the requirements of the law. But the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), promptly rejected the results saying it was fraught with irregularities. Both parties thus refused to sign the result sheet. There was over 80 percent turnout in the election where 1.173 million of the registered voters participated. The total registered voters stood at 1.648 million.

In an earlier petition, Dr Bob Ekarika, the Director-General for the Action Congress gubernatorial campaign organisation gave 14 instances of irregularities, insisting that Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] should cancel the said results. He said there was ballot box snatching, intimidation and shooting.
The state Resident Electoral Commissioner Mrs Maria Owi said aggrieved parties should take their complaints to the judiciary.

The PDP also won in 29 of the 31 local councils in the state, leaving Uyo and Uruan local government areas for the Action Congress. The party agent for CPC said he was instructed by his party not to sign the result sheet.

-Sunwp_posts