APC: Akpabio Offered INEC Commissioner In Akwa Ibom With N2.5Billion

The Akwa Ibom state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has accused the former governor of the state, who is now a senator, Godswill Akpabio, of bribing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commissioner in the state, Austin Okojie. 

The party’s claims Akpabio’s action is meant to frustrate the its petition challenging the election of Governor Udom Emmanuel.

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In a petition on July 8 addressed to the Director General of the Department of State Security and the Inspector General of Police and obtained by Premium Times, the party, through its legal counsel, Victor Iyanam, accused Okojie of collecting the bribe from  Akpabion in order to work against its interest and that of its governorship candidate, Okon Umanah, at the election tribunal.

According to Iyanam, the alleged bribe was paid by Akpabio before he left power with the aim of making the INEC commissioner feel “obliged to complete the corrupt process by doing everything possible to frustrate the governorship elections petition of the APC candidate.”

Iyanam said he was compelled to write the petition after several complaints against the continued refusal by INEC in the state to grant access to the APC to inspect election materials, despite several orders by the governorship election petition tribunal in the state.

The federal government had approved the relocation of the tribunal from Uyo to Abuja after the allegations of threats to security. The tribunal also directed that the election materials and forensic analysis should be inspected in the presence of State Security Services officials and the Nigerian police.

The petition, however, claimed that Okojie refuse the obey the tribunal’s orders, nor cooperate with the APC to carry out the inspection “principally (due) to the fact that the sum of N2.5 Billion was disbursed to him by the previous government of Chief Godswill Akpabio prior to the general elections.”

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The petition also claimed that the INEC commissioner only brought some of the sensitive election materials from Uyo to Abuja and ensured that they were not handed over to anybody for custody.

“The objective of the delay tactics employed by Mr. Okojie on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is to prevent the APC candidate from using the evidence to effectively prosecute his case at the election tribunal,” the petition stated.

 

Okojie and some other senior INEC officials in the state were also accused of working to cause “irreparable damage to the election materials,” as most of the documents brought from Uyo were allegedly already destroyed on arrival in Abuja.

“Water was deliberately poured into the bags of materials, while some were kept under the rain, contrary to the established practice of keeping the materials in envelops according to their polling units.

“The conduct of the REC, absolutely criminal in content, reckless in execution and done with impunity, is not only a breach of public trust, but would have catastrophic consequences if allowed to go unpunished in order to serve as a deterrent,” the petition said.

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Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has began to probe Akpabio over the alleged fraud of N108.1billion of Akwa Ibom state funds.

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