Akwa Ibom State Government has described as misleading, information circulating in the state that Udom Emmanuel is now an acting governor as a result of the nullification of election in 18 out of the 31 local government areas of the Election Petitions Tribunal.
In a statement by the state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr. Aniekan Umanah yesterday, the state government said: “It is unfortunate that a section of the media are unaware of the salient provisions of the 1999 Constitution regarding election and inauguration of governor of a state, talk-less of the 2011 Electoral Act."
Umanah said the fact that the Akwa Ibom Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which sat in Abuja directed Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a rerun election in 18 local government areas of the state within 90 days, “does not mean that the office of the governor is vacant, as the tribunal also confirmed Emmanuel as governor."
“The Electoral Act specifically provides that in a situation such as we have now, the governor remains in office until he exhausts all appeal windows available to him. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that sponsored the governor has indicated its intention to appeal the judgment of the tribunal. While the case runs its course, the governor remains in office, contrary to the falsehood by a segment of the press, serving the interest of the opposition.”