Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC seems bearing misplaced grudges against Mike Igini, Resident Electoral Commissioner.
The unannounced enmity, insiders aver, stems from the outcome of the 2019 general elections in Akwa Ibom State.
Just last Saturday, September 19, Akwa Ibom APC, upped its usual characteristic. The party published a press statement where they called for the prosecution of Akwa Ibom Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mike Igini.
The call, however, came just after the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Office in Akwa Ibom made an announcement. The electoral body stated its readiness to arraign some University lecturers engaged as collation and returning officers in 2019.
SACKED
The lecturers according to INEC were alleged to have manipulated and falsified election results aimed at producing falsified results.
INEC had already sacked three of its staff found guilty of such malpractice.
Raged by this act, the APC Publicity Secretary, Nkereuwem Enyongekere called for the head of Mike Igini. He was accused of colluding with the PDP during the election. He was also said to have recruited electoral officers that were members of the PDP.
However, available records show it was APC that wanted the REC to take list of APC members as collation and Returning officers.
That the commission reviewed the activities of its staff after the election and dismissed them for wrongdoing is salutary. INEC should be applauded and not castigated.
In Nigeria’s political history, this is the first time Professors would face trial over criminal roles in an election.
This is rare instance where the commission had to evaluate its performance, prosecute those involved in malpractice, just to correct errors hitherto existed in the system to serve as a deterrence.
Why call for Mike Igini’s arraignment on the grounds of recruiting PDP members as electoral officers during the 2019 Elections? He had called APC leaders and press men to identify those officers that were PDP members before the election.
It’s unfortunate that the lecturers the APC claimed were working for PDP were actually altering election results to favour APC.
It’s shameful. So the academics who got involved in using biro to change the will of the people should face the music.
IDENTITY CHALLENGE
It’s still fresh in the memory when the REC assembled all parties. He challenged them to identify POs and APOs NYSC Corp members alleged to be PDP members. But they could not identify any one. Instead, they offered Igini a ticket to Dubai for a meeting which he turned down. They attempted a bribe, he refused and re-echoed that he didn’t come to Akwa Ibom to count money but votes.
APC spent time boasting of federal might to win election in three hours. The PDP then took advantage of the APC’s folly to embark on a house-to-house campaign. When votes were counted, they won.
Today, they are still crying over the self-inflicted abysmal failure of the party. They wrongly accuse Igini of recruiting PDP members as collation-returning officers.
What they wanted was for Igini to allow them submit a list of Collation officers by themselves. An immoral proposal that the REC said was absolutely unacceptable.
During the election, ballot materials were distributed to all polling units with complete original result sheets. That was the first in the history of election in Akwa Ibom State.
The APC became destabilized by this transparent move. They sent thugs to hijack some of the materials to private residences for mass rigging. And when the REC got information about the malpractice perpetrated by the APC, the results were cancelled. Till today, this has remained the only crime of Igini.
Mike Igini didn’t do anything wrong to stand for justice, equity and fair play. There is nothing wrong for a man to have conscience to reject money just to correct errors in electoral system.
APC couldn’t make any case at the tribunal appeal court as they became more confused as they have always been. They lost finally at the Supreme Court.
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