Court Compels INEC To Publish Akpabio’s Name As APC Senatorial Candidate

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja says the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, erred by excluding the name of former Akwa Ibom governor, Godswill Akpabio, from the list of senatorial candidates.

To this end, the court has ordered the commission to publish the name of Akpabio as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Akwa Ibom North/West senatorial election.

Recall that the electoral body had omitted the names of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and Godswill Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta affairs from its published lists, saying they did not participate in the primary elections.

Despite efforts by the ruling party to hand the tickets to Lawan and Akpabio, INEC, on July 9, insisted that Bashir Machina and Udom Ekpoudom remain the APC senatorial candidates for the districts.

However, Justice Emeka Nwite, in a judgment on Thursday, declared INEC’s position illegal.

According to the Judge, INEC had no reason to reject Akpabio since his name was sent to it by the APC as its candidate.