FORMER Akwa Ibom State Governor and Senator representing Akwa Ibom North in the national assembly, Godswill Akpabio has said the confidence reposed in the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission has been eroded.
Speaking with newsmen in Abuja, the former Senate Minority Leader said it would be difficult for the leadership of INEC led by Professor Mahmood Yakubu to inspire the confidence of Nigerians.
He said: “You know that INEC is an Independent body, but some of its officials are not totally Independent. In some states of the Federation. We have noticed some unholy alliances with the government in power in those states. For example, in a place like Akwa Ibom, we have seen the body language of the government which clearly show that they will not be able to conduct free and fair elections, giving all the parties, particularly the APC, a level playing field. This is very easy for you to see and from the body language of people, they have recruited to run the affairs, including the ad-hoc staff and other support staff for the election. This can be seen from the body language and the kind of things that the trainees are being told. What the National Chairman observe about opposition against APC do exist.”
He, however, expressed confidence that his party would win the presidential elections and go further to win states in both the south-south and south-east zones which are predominantly stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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“I believe strongly that the APC as a party has done extremely well, particularly in the last two months of Campaign across the country. We give glory to God that the President was able to show not just his fitness, but his capacity and capability to continue to run the affairs of the country for the next four and half years up to 2023. You know that it was difficult for many presidential candidates to go round the entire country. But the President was able to cover the 36 states and the FCT in good health, delivering his messages to Nigerians and giving hope to them. In all the places he visited, he raised the hope of the common people and showing that he want to be president for the common people.
“We, as party stalwarts were very pleased with what we saw because it was quite impressive and a clear indication that the APC is growing stronger every day.
I also noticed that in 2015, the APC was almost non existent in places like the south-south except in Edo state and in the south east, except in Imo state. But today, that is different. The party has permeated to the south-south and south-east and I am sure it will do better this time and those area when the elections are held.”
He denied the allegation that the APC was determined to use State machinery to unseat the incumbent governor in his home state of Akwa Ibom, Udom Emmanuel who is seeking a fresh mandate.
“APC has no intention of taking Akwa Ibom. The only intention of APC is to reflect the will of the people of the state which today, remain 80-90 percent APC. My people are quite determined to join the centre politics of Nigeria. Some of them who are politicians have been decamping in droves and those who are not politicians are declaring their support for the APC on a daily basis. A good example is when the President flagged off his campaign in Akwa Ibom, we have thousands of people both inside and outside the massive stadium. When you go round the local governments, the indices of winning the election are very clear. When people are with you, you will win the election, but when they are not with you, you don’t win. These are not hired crowds. People say they have doubt about Akwa Ibom becoming an APC state. I can tell you that Akwa Ibom is already an APC state, just waiting for the election to happen.”