Mixed reactions have trailed the ruling of the Akwa Ibom governorship tribunal which ordered a rerun in 18 local government areas of the state but without making any declarative statement on the validity of the entire election.
Apart from leaving many guessing about the import of the ruling, both the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Party (APP) have indicated that they would appeal the ruling.
Accordingly, while APC is demanding that the entire election be cancelled, the PDP says the ruling failed to explain whether elections in the entire local government area can be cancelled based on an incident in one unit or one ward.
Speaking on a television programme, Victor Iyanam, former commissioner for justice and attorney-general and a chieftain of the APC said the party is appealing because it is not comfortable with it.
“APC is worried and we are appealing. PDP is comfortable where it is. Whether they appeal or not, we will go ahead. We are asking for the cancellation of the entire result,’’ he said.
But speaking also, Uwemedimo Nwoko, the Akwa Ibom State commissioner for justice and attorney-general said Governor Udom Emmanuel would appeal against ruling, adding that the governor would rely on an earlier judgment by the Supreme Court which according to him had ruled that proof of irregularities should be done unit by unit and ward by ward before an election could be cancelled in any local government area.
Similarly, Etim Ukpong, a businessman in Uyo, the state capital, said apart from the ruling being questionable, it did not make any declarative statement on who the governor of the state is.
“Election has been cancelled in 18 local government areas leaving only 13 LGAs out of 31. The Electoral Act and the constitution are very clear on this issue. To be declared a winner, the candidate must score 25 percent of the votes cast in at least two thirds of the local government areas within the state where election was held as well as a simple majority of the votes,” he said.
Ukpong further said that a declarative statement must be sought from a court of competent jurisdiction on the status of the election, maintaining that the Supreme Court would resolve all the issues left hanging by the ruling.
ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK
