The All Progressives Congress (APC) has no candidates for the Yobe North and Akwa Ibom North-west Senatorial Districts, according to a statement made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday.
After losing the APC presidential primary, Senate President Ahmed Lawan, who represents Yobe North, is vying for the party’s nomination. Former Akwa Ibom governor Godswill Akpabio is also vying for the party’s nomination to run for the Akwa Ibom North-west Senatorial seat. Akpabio ran for the APC presidency as well.
Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner for INEC, claimed that the electoral authority does not recognize any APC candidates for any of the senatorial zones.
| 2023: INEC Reaffirms Rejection of Akpabio, Lawan |
In an interview with Sunday Politics on Channels Television, Okoye said:
“In these two constituencies, two names were forwarded and the commission made a determination that the names were not persons who emerged from a validly conducted party primaries and we did not publish their names. That is where we are.”
“Their (Lawan and Akpabio) names were uploaded by the APC to our candidates’ nomination portal but the commission made a determination that they were not the candidates that emerged from valid party primaries,” he added.
“The commission did not publish their names and their particulars in their constituencies. So, the implication is that as of today, the APC does not have candidates in those two constituencies.”
The nomination of Lawan and Akpabio as senatorial candidates for the general elections in 2023 was facilitated by the doctoring and backdating of documents, according to INEC’s denial last week.
“The Forms of the two personalities in question were not published by the Commission,” INEC said.
“The decision of the Commission triggered legal action which is still ongoing.
“It, therefore, defies logic and common sense to go around and submit doctored documents purportedly recognising the duo as candidates when the matter is clearly sub-judice.”
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