GOVERNORSHIP candidate of the All Progressives Candidate ,APC, in Akwa Ibom State Mr Umana Umana would tomorrow file petition against the election of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Mr. Udom Emmanuel as the governor of the state at the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Uyo.
The legal team would be led by Chief Wole Olanipeku ,SAN, four other senior advocates and 24 lawyers in the suit that has the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, and PDP as co- defendants.
The Returning Officer in the election, Mr. James Ekpoke had returned Emmanuel as winner, stating that he scored 996, 071 votes to defeat the APC candidate, who polled 89, 865 votes.
Vanguard gathered that the alleged widespread incidents of rigging informed the decision of the APC to challenge the result. Umana had in a chat with Vanguard shortly after the disputed exercise, accused INEC of conniving with the PDP to rig the election.
”This went beyond elections, it was an organised crime against the people of my state. This was state terrorism. We did not have elections in Akwa Ibom state and the perpetrators of these crime should face justice in the International Criminal, Court. This was not about elections. The example in Akwa Ibom is that the only way you can become a governor is that you must have a private army to terrorize people on Election Day,” he noted.
He also said: ”It is not about me, but if that is the message, then we can imagine what would happen in the future when other people also set up their private armies, if it becomes clear that that is the only way to become governor. That is the legacy they are leaving behind in Akwa Ibom state and it is indeed very sad.”
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