Fed Lawmaker, Aniekan Umanah, seeks review of supplementary election results of own constituency

A member of the House of Representatives, Aniekan Umanah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) representing Abak, Etim Ekpo, Ika federal constituency has called for a review of the supplementary election results in which he lost to Clement Jimbo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Umanah, a former commissioner for information in Akwa Ibom State, was seeking to be elected a second time but lost to Jimbo who scored 22,225 votes while he garnered 20,793 votes during the supplementary election held on Saturday.

In a post on his Facebook account, Umanah, who enjoined his supporters to remain calm, added that “we are reviewing the process of the entire federal constituency and we will announce our decision indue course.’’

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It was not immediately clear whether the lawmaker would be heading to court to challenge the results or what he meant by a “review of the process of the entire federal constituency,” as he did not elaborate.

Reacting to his post, many of his constituents advised him to suspend any action of challenging the outcome of the elections saying that he has been in power for more than 12 years while another of his constituents advised him to congratulate Jimbo on the victory at the polls.

“Just congratulate him (Jimbo), ” Kufre Ekpo wrote while Unyime Leo told him to rest saying “the people had massively rejected you.”

For Blessed Blessed, “if Akwa Ibom election was free and fair, Umanah’s party would not win one unit in Akwa Ibom state,” while Victor Udosen advised him not to go to court but rather “he should accept the result and move on.”

Meanwhile, the PDP also lost in Ini/Ikono federal constituency of Akwa Ibom state after Emamanuel Ukpong Udo of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) was declared winner by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) defeating Glory Edet, a former commissioner in the state.

Emmanuel Ukpong Udo who is of the PDP and currently, a member of the House of Representatives defected to the YPP when he could not secure his party’s ticket to return to the green chamber as a ranking member.

Cyril Omoregbe, the resident electoral commissioner for Akwa Ibom State had announced the cancellation of the supplementary election in the affected 17 units of ward 11, Itak in Ikono local government area following violence that erupted during the polls, adding that Emmanuel Ukpong Udo having scored majority of the votes cast in the previous election stood elected.