The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Akwa Ibom State Chapter has blamed the failure of the All Progressives Congress at the polls and at the tribunal on the party’s alleged ill-preparedness and buck-passing attitude.
A three-man panel in a marathon judgment handed down by its chairman, W.O. Akanbi, through a majority decision, dismissed the petition filed by Godswill Akpabio of the All Progressives Congress (APC), challenging the declaration of Ekpenyong by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as winner of the said election.
Reacting to the judgment in a press conference in Uyo, the state capital, PDP which spoke through its Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong said the APC, at the commencement of the tribunal, filed processes that were manifestly and incurably defective.
“How else can you describe people who protested the location of the tribunal before the tribunal was even constituted?
“Since then, they have been shouting to high heavens over non-existent issues. When the tribunal started, they filed processes that were manifestly and incurably defective.
“Now that the natural consequences of their actions have manifested, instead of taking a sincere introspection, they have decided to apply their stock in trade- passing the buck,” he said
Taking specific instances, Ememobong said in the case against Patrick Ifon, the APC and its candidate filed the petition with a wrong heading of the court, and wrong name of the Federal Constituency.
“In Victor Antai’s case, the entire petition was fraught with unimaginable mistakes, which the petitioners and their counsel conceded, for example the petitioner intermittently used Uyo and Oron federal Constituencies in his petition; used grounds alien to the Electoral Act in seeking redress and sought contradictory reliefs.
“Additionally, they filed an affidavit where 23 paragraphs therein, contained vague, imprecise and nebulous claims of alleged errors occurring at polling units, without stating the exact polling units where these alleged errors happened.
“The petitioners in their characteristic untidy manner, brought witnesses who were either totally confused or were certified liars. Their PW3 stated that he did not vote and did not see when results were entered, but insisted that he knows there was manipulation- nothing more witless has ever been said since the creation of man,” he said.
According to him, “This is a clear case of non-compliance with Electoral Act and inability to prove allegations of corrupt practices in line with Section 135 of the Evidence Act. How is the PDP or the Tribunal responsible for fatal mistakes made by the lawyers of the APC?
“In Godswill Akpabio’s case, the majority judgment of the tribunal is a soothing balm to the people of Ikot Ekpene senatorial district (North West) who massively rejected him at the polls. They ensured that he lost convincingly in eight LGAS, had a slim victory in one. He supervised a reign of terror and harassment against his people in Essien Udim but still could not get a result to fertilise his ill-fated return to the Senate.
The PDP further accused the APC of bringing to court witnesses who were either totally confused or certified liars. The party therefore, urged the general public to ignore the illogical, baseless, senseless and slow-witted utterances made by the All Progressives Congress Akwa Ibom State and treat them as their usual strawclutching antics and the last kicks of a dying horse.”
