A governorship candidate in the general election in Akwa Ibom State, Prince Jeremiah Udo Akpan Udo has said that the refusal of INEC to publish his name as the duly recognized candidate of the Action Alliance for the gubernatorial polls held across Nigeria in March was a fatal mistake and rubs the election of it's legitimacy and validity ordinarily.
The gubernatorial candidate who who is currently at the election petition tribunal, while speaking with newsmen at the weekend in Uyo, said that the petition is unique in a way because it was not about the usual irregularities perpetrated by the political gladiators but rather about the refusal of INEC to provide a level playing field for the candidate and the deliberate manipulation of the process that led to gubernatorial polls here in Akwa Ibom State and indeed around the country.
According to him, "the election is not a thing that happens in a day, it's actually a process that commences from the day the ban on political activities is lifted to the day certificate of return is handed over to the winner. There are specific timelines and deliverables and these must be complied with.
Now to add to the illegality the same INEC was ordered by the Federal High Court and the court of appeal to reflect the names of all the candidate's of the Action Alliance on its portal before the general elections, yet INEC refused to comply".
He stressed that his petition was not about who was the candidate of the Action Alliance party in the last Gubernatorial election in Akwa Ibom State, that issue had long been settled by the Federal High Court Abuja and affirmed by the Court of Appeal Abuja.
"The petition was actually about whether INEC is above the law and should not obey the valid and subsisting orders of Courts of competent jurisdiction", he said.
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