The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it will appeal the judgment delivered today (21/10/15) by the State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Abuja.
The state chairman of the party, Dr. Amadu Atai, stated that the party was not satisfied with the tribunal's nullification of elections in 18 local government areas.
He added that there had been widespread irregularities in the governorship polls in all local government areas of the state, and in some cases, there were no elections at all.
As stated by him, the decisions of the tribunal, regarding the April 11 governorship election in the state, are inconclusive, saying the APC had begun the process of appeal.
He said: “The tribunal has cancelled the governorship elections in 18 local government areas as it ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections in the affected LGAs. But we are going to appeal because we expect cancellation in more local government areas, where discrepancies were pervasive.”
However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state chairman, Mr. Paul Ekpo, said the judgment was very confusing adding that the only good thing about the judgment was that the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, still remained in power.
As stated by him, PDP will meet to review the decisions of the tribunal.
“The judgement is very confusing except that my governor, who had won elections overwhelmingly in the state, still remains the governor. The rerun in 18 LGAs, as ordered by the tribunal, as you know, we will win. Besides, we will meet at the party level to look at the judgement,” Ekpo stated.
A legal practitioner in the state, Mr. Udo George, however, said it would have been better for the entire governorship election to be cancelled outright.
He said, “As the judgment stands, it is advantageous to the Peoples Democratic Party, which has been awarded 13 local government areas already.
“PDP will still contest against the APC in the 18 LGAs which elections had been nullified. They will still win some; I do not see any possibility for the APC to get between 75 and 80 per cent in the affected LGAs. The judgement, to me, is inconclusive.”