Like a mortally wounded snake, Godswill Akpabio, former two-term governor of Akwa Ibom State, former Senator, and former Niger Delta Affairs Minister, has sworn never to give up his senatorial ambition until the Supreme Court knocks him out cold.
Akpabio was reacting to Monday’s Appeal Court judgment that sacked him as a senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The sacked senatorial aspirant, said, on Tuesday, that his lawyers were scrutinizing the Appeal Court judgment that annulled his supposed selection as the APC senatorial candidate for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
The court had ruled that Akpabio, being a presidential aspirant of the APC, could not participate in the valid primary of the party held on May 27, 2022, and monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The primary produced Udom Ekpoudom as APC candidate.
Consequently, the court ordered INEC to remove Akpabio’s name from the list of the senatorial candidate in Akwa Ibom State contesting in the 2023 general elections.
Reacting to the judgment in a statement issued on Tuesday, the ex-Minister said he was aware of the court judgment and that his lawyers were studying it with the view to seeking legal redress.
Noting that the Supreme Court had the final say on the matter, Akpabio urged his supporters to remain calm and law-abiding.
“I am aware that the Supreme Court of Nigeria has the final say in these matters,” he declared in the statement. “I therefore strongly advise my supporters, APC members and all my constituents to remain calm and law-abiding, as they continue the campaigns for the successes of the APC in Akwa lbom North West Senatorial District, Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria at large.”