May 22, (THEWILL) – AKwa Ibom state governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, has said that the ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has put modalities in place to constitute reconciliation panel which would assuage aggrieved members of the party after delegates elections.
The Governor stated this during an interactive session with newsmen at his residence in Onna local government area, after the state House of Assembly primaries conducted across 26 state constituencies in the state on Sunday.
According to him, the new dawn brought by the Electoral Act, will spring surprises in the country, explaining that no two elections are the same and called on all aggrieved aspirants who are not comfortable with the conduct of the primary election as stipulated by law would be pacified through the reconciliation panel.
Governor Emmanuel observed that the amended Electoral Act has disqualified him as the governor and leader of the party from voting and urged the aspirants to accept the result of the primaries in good faith.
“As you can see today, I decided to obey the rules of the electoral act, that disqualified me from being a delegate, I refused to go near the venue.
“I have come to understand that whatever comes our way is the act of God, we can’t blame anyone for what has happened today.
“Akwa Ibom is PDP and PDP is Akwa Ibom, I hope to immidiately set up a reconciliation committee for those of us feeling aggrieved, that probably the process today did not favour them, it’s an act of God and there’s nothing anyone can do about it, No one in this country saw this coming, so we must take it the way we have seen it, the committee will reconcile and bring them back together.”
Meanwhile, one of the aspirants for Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District and former Chief of Staff to the Governor, Akparawa Ephraim Inyangeyen, said a group of aspirants in the state had decided to pull out of the primaries because of the pending court issues arising from the recent Ad-hoc delegates election in the state.
Speaking at Ikot Ebiere in Onna local government area of the state, Inyangeyen said the exercise conducted by PDP in the state is illegal and cannot be considered as a democratic exercise.
Inyangeyen, a former Commissioner for Works, said a group has asked the leadership of PDP in the state to provide a plain level ground for all aspirants to contest and prove their popularity, but the government has refused because they are afraid of failure in a free and fair competition.
“Because of the court order, I remain in my house today. I don’t mind what they are doing today. I am a law abiding citizen. Whatever they are doing today, we would challenge it in court.
“We have asked our supporters to shun the primaries because it is conducted on illegality”, he said.
He predicted that All Progressive Congress (APC) will take over the state if PDP would not adhere to electoral guidelines that regulate conduct of party primaries.
He said PDP should respect internal democracy or it may bring down the party in Akwa Ibom state in 2023.
THEWILL correspondent in Akwa Ibom, who monitored the exercise in some parts of the state reports that government anointed aspirants won all the slots in the State and National Assembly primary elections held in the 26 state and 10 federal Constituency slots, to become candidates of the PDP for 2023 elections.
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