They don’t hold elections in Akwa Ibom but write results - INEC's REC, Mike Igini
- INEC's REC in Akwa Ibom, Mike Igini, claimed elections were not conducted in the state prior to his time
- Igini said the results were written and allocated without necessarily conducting elections
- The outspoken INEC senior official, however, said the electoral system in Akwa Ibom state under his watch would witness a major turnaround
Mike Igini, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC of the Independent National Electoral Commission, has indicted his predecessors in Akwa Ibom, saying elections do not hold in the entirety of the state.
Igini said he has evidence to support his claims, specifically commenting on the 2015 and 2019 general elections.
“In that same 2015 in Akwa Ibom, they ‘allocated’ five percent (of votes) to the current president,” the REC alleged during his appearance on Channels TV on Tuesday, January 28.
Advised to be mindful of his choice of words, the REC insisted: “Yes, allocated! Because in Akwa Ibom they don’t do election, they write results.”
“I have the records, you go there; because when I arrived in Akwa Ibom state, leaders – traditional rulers, religious leaders; all groups came to me but that is not new to me, I was the commissioner in neighbouring Cross River state,” Igini added.
Source: UGC
He said the days of not conducting elections were gone and promised that the electoral system in Akwa Ibom state would witness a major turnaround.
The INEC official revealed that he had informed stakeholders in the state after he assumed office that it would no longer be business as usual.
He also reacted to the allegation of bias preferred against him by some political groups, saying they were only making attempts to secure undue advantages.
Legit.ng notes that the recently conducted rerun elections in the state were characterised with violence.
Some INEC officials were allegedly held hostage inside a public secondary school in the area.
Condemning the actions of the perpetrators, Igini described the violence as electoral banditry.
Earlier, the deputy spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena, accused Igini of working for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
Nabena who made the allegation while speaking to journalists on Thursday, January 23 in Abuja, stated that Igini's past antecedents have witnessed him compromise, manipulate and swing the 2019 elections conducted in the state in favour of the PDP.
Similarly, the party had through the forum of APC aspirants called for the redeployment of Igini.
Chris Enoch and political advisor, Emaeyak Ukpong, the forum coordinator, said the removal of Igini will pave way for a free and fair poll.
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In a similar development, Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC said that the failure of security agencies to act decisively and collaborate with one another usually encourages thuggery during elections.
The INEC boss made the disclosure on Friday, January 10, during the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) meeting held at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
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Source: Legit.ng
