The former Minister of Petroleum Resources and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State, Chief Don Etiebet, has called on the national leadership of the party to reject the list of national delegates submitted by the State Working Committee.
This is even as another chieftain of the party, Chief Francis Ekpenyong, described the list as a skit that was poorly scripted.
Etiebet had on Wednesday led a team of aggrieved political stakeholders that included the immediate past National Secretary of the APC, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, to protest in Abuja.
He said, “You are all living witnesses to all the challenges against the efforts we have been making to get the party to redress our differences that are now common knowledge, particularly as we are foisted with persons who did not win any election at any congress monitored by INEC as state executives in the state.
“We hasten to warn that the state challenge of using delegates that were not voted for, in line with the extant electoral laws, if not addressed may recur during the presidential primaries.
“Surely, if that happens then the presidential primaries run a risk of not producing a validly nominated candidate in line with the Electoral Laws. This should not happen.
“We fail to see what anyone stands to gain should this fate befall our great party in Akwa Ibom State.”
Narrating how the national delegates list was hijacked, the elder statesman recalled that the panel sent from the APC National Headquarters arrived at the Victor Attah International Airport in a private jet and was received by the party’s South-South zonal secretary.
Thereafter, they rode in convoy in a bus and were going to the authorized INEC recognised venue at Sheergrace Arena for the conduct of the gubernatorial primary election where all the accredited delegates had gathered.
Along the way, the panel members allegedly objected to going to Sheergrace Arena, venue of the primary, saying they were directed from Abuja to head to another venue, being No 6 Ekpo Obot Street.
Etiebet stated that the address was unknown to the party, including INEC officials and Police. The move was resisted by the party members who had followed the bus from the airport, saying the authorised venue was at the Sheergrace Arena.
He stated, “This resulted in some disagreements that lasted for more than two hours. In order to avert violence, they all agreed to go to the DSS Director’s office for safety of persons and materials.
“Unfortunately, the panel members were surreptitiously drafted to another venue by certain people to proceed to purportedly conduct gubernatorial primaries without the presence of the commission at about midnight when all party faithful and delegates had since dispatched following the announcement of the postponement of the governorship primaries by the INEC Resident Commissioner in the state.
“This is quite contrary to the provisions of Section 84 (1) of the Election Act, 2022 and cannot be allowed to stand.”
However, to allow for amicable resolution by the party leadership at the national level, the former minister stressed that aggrieved members of the party were compelled to withdraw the case they earlier filed at the Court of Appeal in respect of Senator John Akpanudoedehe’s plea.
Ekpenyong, who also spoke on behalf of the Cross Rivers Authentic Ad hoc National Delegates, declared that they were the original people who paid for nomination forms, participated in the process and emerged as national delegates of their respective local government areas.
“We make bold to say that the so-called national delegate list presented to the party by the SWC members was based on a poorly scripted skit comedy shot by the state chairman of the party and his co-conspirators.
“The action and inactions of the SWC members of our dear party have the tendency of compromising the process and depriving the elected national delegates of their rights to participate in the nomination of the presidential candidate of their own choice,” he said.
While appealing to the National Working Committee to do the right thing, Chief Ekpenyong urged the national stakeholders to act fast by following the already existing delegate list sent to the national secretary dated May 17, being the date the national delegate election took place at various 18 local government areas in the state.
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