APC faults petition tribunal over Akpabio

THE All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State yesterday faulted the decision by the Justice Goddy Anunihu-led election petition tribunal which upheld the election of Senator Godswill Akpabio.

APC’s Chairman in the state, Mr Amadu Attai who addressed reporters in Abuja disclosed that the party’s candidate for the Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district, Chief Inibehe Okori, will launch an appeal the tribunal’s verdict.

Flanked by chieftains of the party, he described the verdict as well as other verdicts so far delivered by the Anunihu-led panel on various petitions on elective positions in the state as a clear case of miscarriage of justice.

Alleging that members of the panel had been compromised by both Governor Udom Emmanuel and Akpabio, he said it was unfortunate that the image of the judiciary has been dragged in the mud as far as the handling of election petitions are concerned in Akwa Ibom state.
He noted: “Nothing drives this point more forcefully home than the controversial decision of the Justice Goddy Anunihu-led panel to dismiss the petition of the APC candidate for the Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district, Chief Inibehe Okori, on the grounds that Mr. Godswill Akpabio’s candidacy in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District rather than Akwa Ibom North west where the APC candidate contested was a “mistake” and that the Panel’s admission of the card reader database analysis evidencing the fraudulent casting of 444,505 votes by only 205,519 accredited voters was done “in error” and had to be expunged from the tribunal record in deciding the case.

” In our view, this fraudulently contrived and inconsistent verdict by Justice Anunihu has, once again, brought the judiciary in the country into opprobrium and raised serious questions over the integrity of the Nigerian justice system.
“At this stage, the All Progressive Congress in Akwa Ibom State calls on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Federal Government and the people of Nigeria to take special notice of what stolen funds in the hands of ultra ambitious corrupt individuals could mean to the national security, stability of the country and the sanctity of its institutions.

It was, indeed, the stolen funds of Akwa Ibom state that was used to turn a civic responsibility like an election into a killing field; a one sided battle where our people were simply over-run by thugs, accomplice security agencies, brigands, who carted away ballot boxes, election materials,murdered our people and ensured that no election held anywhere in the state.

“We state that no matter how much we sing of anti-corruption, these vile characters would still continue to compromise our institutions and make nonsense of our new national consciousness, if they are not made to account for their crimes.”