A’Ibom Elections: War Over Igini Redeployment Escalates … As Protesting Youths Hand INEC A 2-Day Ultimatum, Political Parties Kick


By UbongAbasi Ise

Calls for the redeployment of Mr. Mike Igini, the Akwa Ibom Resident Electoral Officer, REC, has recently increased in intensity as various stakeholders in the state continue to raise disturbing allegation of partisanship against the REC ahead of the general elections.  
Monday, over 2,000 Akwa Ibom youth were staging a peaceful protest at the State headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Uyo, alleging that Mr. Mike Igini is working for the interest of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP.
Mr. Stephen Ntokekpo, who spoke on behalf of the protesting youths accused Mr. Igini of collecting 1million dollars from the PDP in exchange of the Permanent Voter's Cards, PVCs, to aid the party gain an edge over other political parties in the forthcoming elections.
Ntokekpo further said that the peaceful demonstration was to send alert to INEC that Akwa Ibom people have rejected Igini in totality, urging the commission to send him out of the state.
The youth leader issued a two-day ultimatum as at Monday to the embattled REC to leave the state, apparently, for peace to reign during the elections.
 “We are very peaceful people. We love strangers. But no one should take our peaceful nature for granted. Mike Igini is not a professional. He has been compromised. He is fraudulent. We give him 48 hours to leave this state,” he declared.
Asides serving the REC the ultimatum, the youth leader further warned INEC that the protesting youth will not vacate the secretariat until Igini is redeployed.
“We will continue to occupy this place until Igini leaves. We cannot sit on the fence and watch a compromised INEC REC set our state on fire”, Ntokekpo stated.
Also, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole at the caucus meeting of the party in Abuja Monday, strongly called on the immediate redeployment of Akwa Ibom REC noting how he went for the choice of a PDP element to take charge over the training process of INEC ad hoc staff in the state.
"INEC chose to use the Governor's Special Assistant to superintend over the training process. How can our brothers and sisters in Akwa Ibom State have confidence when the process, the recruitment, the training, the deployment of the ad-hoc staff is done between the INEC REC and the Government of Akwa Ibom State? As we speak that problem persists," he stressed.
Oshiomole further emphasized the need to effect some changes in INEC in order to have free and fair elections.
"We have conveyed to INEC the need for them to remove some officers who have stayed too long in particular locations as to become part and parcel of the establishment of those locations and therefore may not be able to conduct free and fair election.
"I have pointed out some Resident Electoral Commissioners who have become so comfortable in their new residences that they are in alliance with authorities in those states. In the past when issues like this arose and especially when they can be proven, INEC leadership would have used their administrative structure to change and redeploy. But the more you complain about the compromised officers the more INEC leadership is determined to keep the compromised officers," he said.
To add to Mike Igini’s many troubles, the Forum of All Political Parties, FAPP, a group of over 40 registered political parties, was on Monday accusing Igini and INEC of colluding with the PDP to rig the general elections in Akwa Ibom State. FAPP alleged that all the ad hoc staff of the Commission is made up of loyal members and supporters of the PDP, contrary to extant practices and institutional requirements, adding that "the Commission has acted as though it were part of the Government House in Uyo."
Meanwhile the Akwa Ibom State APC had earlier petitioned the national headquarters of INEC alleging that Mr. Mike Igini has developed a soft spot for PDP in the state.
In a letter addressed to the INEC and co-signed by the APC State Chairman, Mr. Ini Okopido and the party’s state secretary, Mr. Augustine Ekanem, the petition has it that Mr. Igini is working hand-in-glove with Mr Udom Emmanuel, to rig, manipulate and influence the forthcoming elections in favour of the governor and his Party, the PDP.
“We have evidence to show that the REC, Mr Mike Igini, has handed over the uncollected Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) to the officials of Akwa Ibom State Government House, Uyo. These uncollected PVCs are in thousands. We do know that it is not the role of the state government or its officials to keep custody of these uncollected PVCs.
“Mr. Igini has been carrying out selective punitive measures against some electoral officers (EOs) whom he perceives to be resisting his partisanship and biased conducts. For instance, he recently removed the electoral officer (EO) of Ikot Abasi LGA from office while other EOs has been thrown out of office for their uprightness, professionalism and decision to stand against Mr. Igini’s ulterior motives. Other EOs whom Mr. Igini has arbitrarily removed from office for resisting his bias, partisanship and favouritism to the PDP are: Mr. Anderson Gogo Waribo; Mr. Ogwo-UdeHappiness and Mr. Kingsley Arukwe. In the last one week, he has removed six EOs from office for daring to resist his partisan conduct,” the letter reads in parts.

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