JUST IN: Reprieve for Akpabio, as court orders INEC to recognise him as A’Ibom North senatorial candidate for 2023 polls

Reprieve has come the way of the former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, and former Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, as the court has seemingly settled the problem around his senatorial ambition.

This is as the court on Thursday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize the former governor as the All Progressives Party (APC) Akwa Ibom senatorial north candidate.

The order was given by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja to recognise and publish the name of Akpabio as the APC candidate for the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial District in the upcoming election.

In his ruling on Thursday, Justice Nwite stated that INEC had broken the law by refusing to accept and publish Akpabio’s name, despite the fact that the APC had submitted it as their candidate.

“I hereby declare that the defendant (INEC) publish the name of the 2nd plaintifff as the authentic candidate,” he said.

In the suit filed before Nwite, the APC and Akpabio are 1st and 2nd plaintiffs respectively while INEC is the sole defendant.

Read also:Akwa Ibom APC insists on fielding Akpabio for 2023 senatorial race

INEC had recently cautioned the APC against its choice of candidate for the Akwa Ibom North-west Senatorial seat.

The commission stated that unless the party followed the proper procedure, the name of the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Akpabio, presented by the party remained invalid.

The party’s candidate, Udom Ekpoudom, had won the primary, which was allegedly overseen by INEC staff members in the district.

However, the party substituted Akpabio’s name for his own.

Festus Okoye, a spokesman for INEC, claimed in an interview that the commission had rejected the former minister because he had not been duly nominated for the senatorial district.

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