Udom Ekpoudom, a former deputy Inspector General of Police and senatorial aspirant for the Akwa Ibom North West (Ikot Ekpene) district says he will appeal the two judgments which declared Senator Godswill Akpabio as the All Progressives Congress candidate for the senatorial seat.
Ekpoudom was earlier declared the winner of the party’s primary conducted on May 28, 2022, by the Independent National Electoral Commission. But a re-run primary conducted on June 9, 2022, at the Godswill Akpabio Empowerment Centre, Ikot Ekpene, Akpabio was declared the candidate for the senatorial seat leading to a lingering court case.
However, the Federal High Court presided by Justice Emeka Nwite, in Abuja, on September 15, 2022, dismissed the lawsuit against INEC and the APC for lacking in merit. This was followed by a similar one by Justice Donatus Okorowo’s judgment on September 23, 2022.
A statement by the Director-General of Ekpoudom Campaign Organisation, Uwem Udoma, titled, “Judgment on Akwa Ibom North-West APC senatorial ticket: Our position”, made available to our correspondent on Sunday said all constitutional means would be explored to retrieve the mandate which had earlier been given to Ekpoudom by his people during the primary.
“By the law, we have instructed our legal team to promptly appeal both Justice Nwite’s judgment (FHC/ABJ/CS/1011/2022) of September 15, 2022, and Justice Okorowo’s judgment (FHC/ABJ/CS/1000/2022) of September 23, 2022.”
“Consequently, we hereby urge all members of the Campaign Organisation and the APC supporters in the senatorial district to remain calm and resolute as notwithstanding, with this ‘temporal setback’, we shall explore all legal and constitutional means to ensure that the mandate entrusted to Ekpoudom is legally protected.
“Most importantly, we hereby assure our teaming APC supporters and indeed the good people of Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial district that come 2023, Abak Federal Constituency will produce the next senator.”
