By Nobert Robert
Despite the deluge of accolades being poured on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, over its almost seamless conduct of the governorship election in Osun State, the Commission is under pressure to clean up its acts in Akwa Ibom State where a big question mark is dangling over its impartiality.
There is growing public angst against the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Mike Igini, a lawyer, whose actions, they say, do not portray him as an impartial electoral umpire. Specifically, critical stakeholders in the state are insisting that INEC should make the Akwa Ibom REC to draw a line between his personal prejudices and his official mandate and commitment to the institution he represents.
One of the stakeholders who hold this strong view against Mr. Igini is Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, a former member of the House of Representatives, now candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s National Assembly polls.
Eyiboh is seeking a return to the House of Representatives, to represent Eket/Onna/Esit Eket/Ibeno Constituency.
Addressing media executives in Lagos on political developments in Akwa Ibom State, Eyiboh declared emphatically that Mr. Igini’s position and conduct as REC were incompatible with the high level of neutrality expected of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
And for INEC to continue to enjoy the confidence and trust of the people, especially the good people of Akwa Ibom State, the APC House of Reps candidate maintained that the National Headquarters of INEC and its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, must speedily look into complaints against Igini and rein him in.
Should Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and his National Commissioners fail to answer this prayer, Eyiboh said the alleged partiality of the Akwa Ibom REC might adversely affect APC’s fortunes in next year’s general elections.
Genesis of Controversy
The fuel that stoked the current confusion, according to Hon. Eyiboh, was a report that he, Igini. submitted to the INEC headquarters in Abuja in which he declared that APC did not have a governorship candidate for next year’s gubernatorial election in the state.
Igini, in the report, hinged his position on an internal crisis that yielded two executives committees, EXCOs. One faction was led by Stephen Ntukekpo and the other by Augustine Ekanem.
While the former is presumed to be loyal to Chief Godswill Akpabio, a former two-term governor of the state, also the immediate past Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, the latter reportedly enjoys the support of a former secretary of the APC caretaker committee, Mr. John Akpanudoedehe.
Akpanudoedehe has since left APC, and pitched his tent with the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, which flag he now flies as its governorship candidate for Akwa Ibom State.
But last March, a Federal High Court in Abuja annulled the election of the Ekanem-led EXCO, describing it as a product of an “illegality”. On the other hand, the presiding judge, Justice Taiwo Taiwo, declared the Ntukekpo-led executives as the duly elected officials, ordering INEC to recognise them accordingly.
Effectively, this meant that there was no faction within the APC in Akwa Ibom State.
Eyiboh said: “APC accepted the judgement and there was no appeal against the judgement. Case closed.”
But the case appeared not closed judging from Igini’s report. In the report, he maintained that though a governorship primary vote was scheduled to hold at the Sheergrace Arena in Uyo, the capital, the exercise never held. The REC, however, revealed that he was later informed that the Ntukepo-led executives organized and held another primary at a different venue. But he maintained that the primary was not recognized despite Akwa Ibom APC’s full compliance with the Electoral Act.
The Akpabio Connection
There is also the angle of Obong Godswill Akpabio, who had contested the APC presidential primary at the Eagle Square, Abuja, but stepped down for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, who won the ticket by a landslide.
Akpabio would, on June 9, 2022, clinch the senatorial ticket for Akwa Ibom North-west Senatorial District, at a primary organised by the APC on that date. The primary that gave Akpabio his return ticket was sequel to the withdrawal of Obong Ekperikpe Ekpo, who had won an earlier primary that the party later cancelled.
However, Mr. Mike Igini insisted that INEC officials did not monitor any primary besides the one conducted on May 27, 2022, which was won by Udom Ekpoudom, a former Deputy Inspector-General of Police, DIG.
In the meantime, INEC had published the names of candidates elected during the primary organised by the Ntukekpo-led executives. Even though the APC had submitted Akpabio’s name to INEC for Akwa Ibom north-west, the electoral commission did not list Akpabio’s name as a candidate for the 2023 elections.
BIG QUESTION EYIBOH WANTS INEC TO ANSWER
Did they notify INEC of the venue, time, and date? The answer is YES. Whose responsibility is it to send monitors to go to that place? It is INEC’s responsibility. And when INEC refuses to send its personnel to go to that place, can a political party be punished for INEC’s absence? The answer is NO.”
During the media parley, Eyiboh added up all the issues surrounding the primaries, as well as the deep-seated concerns about Igini’s stance on the exercise, and submitted that personal sentiments should not be allowed to derail the activities of INEC.
To underscore Igini’s strange behavior, Eyiboh showed a letter, dated June 21, 2022, to the top journalists, which INEC wrote to the APC. It stated unequivocally that the electoral body, in compliance with the judgment of the Federal High Court, recognised Ntukekpo as the chairman of the party in Akwa Ibom State.
The letter, signed by Rose Oriarah-Anthony, said: “The Commission wishes to formally draw your attention to the subsisting judgement/order of the Federal High Court, Abuja (Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1635/2021) which recognized Hon. Obong Stephen Leo Ntukekpo as Chairman of the APC in Akwa Ibom.
“This is to note that the commission is complying with the content of the judgement.”
Eyiboh also showed the media executives other correspondence between INEC and the party, adding that the case challenging the leadership of Ntukekpo had been resolved by the Court of Appeal.
‘Should APC be punished for INEC’s absence after giving due notice?’
He, however, expressed reservations over Igini’s stance on the earlier primaries, adding that such comments were antithetical to what the Commission should stand for in terms of impartiality.
“Twenty-one days’ notice is the statutory requirement for all political parties to inform INEC of its party primaries,” Eyiboh continued. “And all the parties, including APC, notified INEC of the conduct of their primaries across the country, including Akwa Ibom. So, the state chairman of the party, who is Ntukekpo, wrote to INEC informing INEC of the venue, date of the conduct of the governorship, Senate House of Reps and state House of Assembly primaries in full compliance with the Electoral Act.
“It is the responsibility of INEC as an institution to engage its administrative procedures once the notice is given. It must not necessarily be the resident electoral commissioner. But the law stipulates that the political party must give 21 days’ statutory notice.
“So, the question is this. Did the political party issue this 21 days’ notice? Did they notify INEC of the venue, time, and date? The answer is YES. Whose responsibility is it to send monitors to go to that place? It is INEC’s responsibility. And when INEC refuses to send its personnel to go to that place, can a political party be punished for INEC’s absence? The answer is NO.”
However, INEC has asked candidates such as Akpabio, whose names are missing, to seek redress in court.
On Igini’s stand regarding the conduct of primaries in the state, Eyiboh said INEC needed to do better to improve on the electoral process.
His words: “He acted not only ultra-vires. He acted in contempt of his scope of office as a public officer. He conducted himself in a way and manner that was suggestive of not a representative of an INEC that is supposed to be impartial.
“What Igini is doing, can he function in his public duties using his personality to represent INEC in cases which are purely out of his control? We are not promoting ethical values and institutional integrity. It’s like we’re promoting a personal conflict.”
“What Igini is doing, can he function in his public duties using his personality to represent INEC in cases which are purely out of his control?
Eyiboh on Akpabio
Eyiboh, during the parley, stressed repeatedly that he wasn’t speaking on behalf of Akpabio or the party but maintained that he was worried because whatever affects the party, affects him as a candidate.
“We should be able to raise the stakes of our electoral values, the institutional integrity, and social democratic values by trying to detach individual personalities from the institutions,” he said.
“INEC has done very well to improve on the electoral system. But that is not enough. Their officers should detach their personal opinions and sentiments from the institution.
“As a political party, we are going to have post-primary conflict here and there. So, what we are trying to do now is to engage a series of conflict management strategies, talk to party members, and we are lucky to have very strong personalities in APC in Akwa Ibom.
“On the issue of governorship, when Igini said APC has no candidate, that is not right. Our governorship candidate, Akanimo Udofia, has been most celebrated in recent times.”
Going by his years in service, Igini, who is not new to controversies, may retire this year. And the clock ticks, watchers of events in Akwa Ibom, and those who have been following his career path, counsel that he needs to urgently reduce the dead weight of controversies trailing him. Lest, they overshadow his legacies.