UbongAbasi Ise

Abasiofiok Inyang It was jubilation and tales of woes yesterday when Governor Udom Emmanuel sent list of 22 member State Executive Council members to the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly for approval. The lists which contend about 100% of members that served in the governor’s first term has only Mr. Okpulupm Ette as the new person. He replaced former Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Sufficiency, Dr. Charles Udo-Inyang who was sacked from office few days to the end of the first term. The Sensor gathered that the return of the former Commissioners has generated mixed reactions from members of the public. While supporters of the nominees were seen dancing and jubilating, those who spent several nights around Government House to lobby for appointment were said to be totally disappointed as they could not make the list. One of the loyal supporter to the immediate past Commissioner for Works, Mr. Ephraim Inyang, who gave his name simply as Uduak, said that the return o...

By UbongAbasi Ise Senator Godswill Akpabio was in the witness box yesterday at the ongoing national assembly election tribunal to challenge the declaration of Senator Chris Ekpenyong as the winner of February 23 senatorial election of Akwa Ibom Northwest (Ikot Ekpene) district. The former senate minority leader was apparently alarmed when page 18 of 162 of the voters register of his polling unit marked as Exhibit R170 was shown to him, which indicated that Senator Akpabio was not accredited to vote as the box by his name on the register was not ticked by the ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Akpabio told the tribunal that the voters register shown to him at the witness box was different from the one used at his polling unit at Independence High School in Ukana, describing the register at the tribunal as provocative. He said he could recall that his wife, Mrs. Uloma Akpabio, and other members of his family were duly accredited, after whi...

By UbongAbasi Ise A witness at the ongoing national assembly election tribunal sitting in Uyo has blown open the can of worm, reeling off startling revelations surrounding February 23 senatorial election in Akwa Ibom Northwest (Ikot Ekpene) District. Mr. Tiebet Joshua, who served as local government collating agent for the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Obot Akara local government area revealed to the tribunal on Wednesday how Senator Chris Ekpenyong called him three days before to issue him stern warning against exposing at the tribunal some fraudulent activities that aided his election as the senator representing Akwa Ibom Northwest district. Joshua, an indigene of Abiakpo Ikot Abasi Inyang in Obot Akara local government area, said he was aware of the result sheet that had 19, 632 of votes cast after collation, but was surprised to see 20,117 later written on the same document. He said if all the total number of votes from the 10 wards of the local government are su...

By UbongAbasi Ise The national assembly tribunal sitting in Uyo was set on fire yesterday as Ikot Ekpene Area Police Commander, ACP Naziru Bello Kankorofi, who was subpoenaed by the tribunal, appeared with two Nigerian Police Situational Reports with the respondents objecting to his cross-examination. Solomon Umoh, SAN, counsel to the 1st Respondent (the Peoples' Democratic Party, PDP), while citing Section 219 of the Evidence Act raised objection to the cross-examination of the Police Area Commander arguing that the person summoned should only tender his documents and leave. Buttressing the same point, Barr. Robert Emukpoeruo, counsel to the 3rd to 5th Respondents  (the Independent National Electoral Commissioner, INEC and 2 ors), maintained that Section 219 of the Electoral Act has two limbs, saying the first is the fact that a person summoned to produce a documents  does not make him a witness,  and secondly he is not qualified to testify as a witness. ...

By UbongAbasi Ise In what turned out to be the battle of wits between the lawyers and the witnesses, the national assembly election tribunal sitting in Uyo yesterday in a matter involving Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Chris Ekpeyong was not without loads of thrills and surprises. During his cross-examination, Arc. Ubokutom Nyah, who served as ward collation agent for the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ekpenyong (II) Ward during February 23 elections, said document  tendered before the tribunal as voters register  by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was not the one used at his polling unit on the election day. Arc. Nyah said he duly cast his vote after he had his name in the register ticked by an INEC ad hoc staff to confirm accreditation, but he was apparently surprised when the space beside his name in the  voters register shown to him at the witness box was left blank. In contradicting INEC's claim which has it that there were no ...

By UbongAbasi Ise “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way” –  Franklin D. Roosevelt Unfolding events in the national assembly election tribunal involving Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Chris Ekpenyong have so far shown how Essien Udim local government area has been cut off from the gridline of democracy and left to reel in seclusion. The formal hearing which commenced on Monday 10 th June 2019 has provoked certain questions that seek to interrogate whether some errors brought to the fore were calculated ones, or simply emerge out of situations that defied human control and conscience. As gleaned from the cross-examination of seven witnesses from Essien Udim that testified so far, INEC said two polling units were cancelled in Afaha Ward; seven cancelled in Adiasim ward; ten polling units in Odoro Ikot (I) ward all cancelled; 17 out of 20 polling units cancelled in Okon Ward; 14 out of 23 cancelled in Ukana East...

By UbongAbasi Ise As the legal battle for the seat of Akwa Ibom Northwest (Ikot Ekpene) Senatorial District in the Red Chambers thickens, Senator Godswill Akpabio is expected to bring his nine remaining witnesses before the National Assembly Election Tribunal sitting in Uyo today. Senator Akpabio, who is the first petitioner in the case, had requested during the prehearing conference held on Monday 13 th May, 2019 to bring 16 witnesses and to subpoena five others before the three-man panel. The tribunal has already obtained evidences from seven out of 16 witnesses brought before it by the former senate minority leader. The seven witnesses were serving as collation agents for the All Progressives Congress, APC, in various wards during February 23 polls in Essien Udim local government area. At the last plenary on Friday 14 th June, 2019, Akpabio’s counsel, S.I. Ameh, SAN, had appealed to the tribunal to give him two days for the cross-examination of the remaining nine ...

By UbongAbasi Ise The presence of Senator Godswill Akpabio at the venue of the national assembly election tribunal has become a major crowd factor around the vicinity of Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo,   our correspondent observes. The first court attendance of the former Senate minority leader on Monday June 10, 2019, attracted massive crowd to the venue of the tribunal, thus causing serious vehicular gridlock along Wellington Bassey Way and the adjourning streets after the close of plenary, especially, as residents of the area poured out in numbers to catch a glimpse of the former governor, who had decided to cover some distance on foot to greet his supporters. To avert Monday June 10 rush hour experience caused by Akpabio's presence, the chairman of the tribunal, Justice W.O. Akanbi, on Friday, openly solicited through Barr. S.I. Ameh for the permission of Senator Godswill Akpabio, who came in at the resumption of the hearing, to allow the members of the panel to ...

By UbongAbasi Ise Witnesses from Essien Udim local government area that testified yesterday at the tribunal said voter registers of Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial election tendered as evidence by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, were different from those used at their respective polling units. Mr. Raymond Udoaka, a witness who had served in the just concluded election as ward collation agent for the All Progressives Congress, APC,  in  Odoro Ikot (I), pointed out to the tribunal that the voters register brought before it by INEC appeared fresh and clean unlike the one used at his polling unit in Ikot Umo Essien which was roughened up owing to overuse during the electoral process on February 23. Series of voters' registers were shown to Mr. Udoaka by Barr. Solomon Umoh, counsel to the 2nd respondent (the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP) to prove a point that accreditation did not take place in all the 10 polling units in Odoro Ikot (1) because of th...

By UbongAbasi Ise This weekend may offer another round of thrills and tension as more witnesses  are expected to step into the dock to testify in a matter brought  before the national assembly tribunal sitting in Uyo by  Senator Godswill Akpabio. The former Senate minority leader is currently challenging the emergence  of Senator Christopher Ekpeyong as winner of February 23 senatorial  election in Akwa Ibom Northwest (Ikot Ekpene) District as declared  by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The matter was adjourned to today, Friday 14 June and tomorrow, Saturday  15 June, 2019, by the chairman of the tribunal, Justice W.O. Akanbi , following the commencement of formal hearing Monday. As would be recalled, two witnesses testified at the last sitting, with  both denying knowledge of any cancellation of polling units results  by INEC in Afaha and Adiasim wards respectively in Essien Udim local government ar...

By UbongAbasi Ise “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” - Martin Luther King Jr The present Akwa Ibom generation is a very funny one. A very thoughtful person may wonder if the founding fathers of the state were given to docility and gullibility, yet succeeded in bequeathing a state called Akwa Ibom for all of us. It should be a big worry as to whether this generation would leave a worthy bequest for the posterity if the state continues with the current trend where people’s political consciousness is constantly warped by inordinate, hypocrite partisanship. Today, the issue of local government autonomy has shown how divided Akwa Ibom stands as a state. While bad roads, lack of water, lack of electricity and poor educational and healthcare systems have no recognition for either PDP or APC supporters in the rural areas, we see debates condemning or supporting the local government financial autonomy being conditioned along PDP-APC fault-li...