Senator Godswill Akpabio, the embattled former Akwa Ibom State Governor
By NewsBits
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has disqualified the former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, as senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Akwa Ibom northwest.
In a judgment delivered on Monday, a three-member panel of justices set aside the judgment of a federal high court which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept and publish the name of Akpabio as the party’s senatorial candidate.
The former minister was in the race for the party’s presidential ticket but dropped his bid for another candidate. Prior to the presidential primary on May 27, former deputy inspector general of police, Mr. Udom Ekpoudom won the APC primary for the senatorial seat.
A parallel primary was also conducted and won by Ekperikpe Ekpo, but was later cancelled over irregularities. A rerun conducted on June 8 was said to have produced Akpabio as the winner of the exercise. INEC, however, excluded the APC from its list of candidates published in June.
INEC spokesman, Mr. Festus Okoye, had said the commission was not under obligation to publish the names of candidates submitted by political parties if there are questions over the validity of primaries featuring such persons. Consequently, the APC and Akpabio approached the court to seek redress.
Delivering judgment on September 15, Emeka Nwite, the trial judge, held that INEC contravened the law when it refused to accept and publish Akpabio’s name, despite the fact that the APC had listed him as its candidate. Aggrieved by the trial
