APC Gets More Days To Inspect Akwa Ibom Election Materials

APC governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Umana Okon Umana walking into the tribunal, Wednesday

The Akwa Ibom State Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday gave the All Progressives Congress (APC) four days extension to conclude the inspection of materials used for the April 11 governorship election in the state, Channels TV reports.

The order of the Tribunal followed an oral application made by the Counsel to the party, Solomon Umoh.
Mr Umoh had complained that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not give the party adequate time to inspect the election materials.
Before the extension was granted, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the INEC opposed the application on the ground that the facts were not rightly stated by the APC and its candidate.
The PDP’s counsel, Tayo Oyetibo, said that the APC had not stated the facts but had been clogging the wheel of their progress.
He, however, told the Tribunal that the request should only be granted if it was made on the bases of the Eid-el-Fitr public holiday which made it impossible for the INEC to conclude the process,
Earlier at the proceedings, the APC presented some of its witnesses who alleged that there were hijacking of election materials by top members of the ruling party in Akwa Ibom State, the PDP.
They claimed that in some cases the materials were hijacked before the election commenced and in other cases, after the voting process, an act they said rendered the process inconclusive.
Out of the APC’s over 800 witnesses, it has only been able to present 16.
After the extension was granted, the Tribunal adjourned to July 23 for further hearing on the issue.