A’Ibom REC cautions against disruption of January 25 rerun polls

Akwa Ibom state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini, has cautioned politicians in Essien Udim Council Area against exhibiting vices that led to the cancellation of the 2019 elections in the area.
The Appeal Court had cited unprecedented violence, intimidation, thuggery and hijacking of electoral materials among others for voiding the election and its decision to order a re-run of the polls in the area.
Igini stated this while addressing chairmen and secretaries of the 19 political parties that would participate in the January 25, 2020 rerun election at his office in Uyo yesterday.
He said since the rerun would hold only in Essein Udim Council Area, and as such, movement would only be restricted in the area, urging stakeholders from other parts of the state to restrict themselves to their domains.
The REC further explained to the affected parties that the re-run would affect Senatorial, Federal Constituency and state House of Assembly, adding that in the senatorial and federal house elections, voting would take place in all 159 polling units, while balloting would take place in 137 polling units of 159 for the House of Assembly elections.
This, he said, followed Appeal Court’s judgement, which confirmed and preserved subsisting results of 22 polling units of the 157 in the council area.
It would be recalled that following the Appeal Court judgement, Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District election was cancelled and a rerun ordered for Essein Udim.
Also, of the three council areas of Ikot Ekpene, Obot Akara and Essien Udim, which constitute Ikot Ekpene Federal constituency, the court nullified the result of Essien Udim and upheld that of Obot Akara and Ikot Ekpene and ordered fresh election for Essien Udim state constituency.
“In 2019 we conducted elections and following the outcome of the exercise several candidates went to the tribunal and Court of Appeal where the three polls were ordered.
Specifically, the Court had ordered that election in Essien Udim shall be re-conducted just as it preserved and affirmed election of nine local government areas.
“On January 25, election will hold in the 159 polling units in Essien Udim for the Senate and House of Representatives. But for the state constituency, in line with the affirmation of what we have done by two courts, election will hold in 137 polling units, while there will be no ballot in 22 polling units of the state constituency.
“If you add 22 with 137, it gives you 159. That is so because the results on Form EC8a of those polling units are available for the 22 polling units.
“The rerun will hold in one local government area of the 31 councils in the state, because the court ruled that election had to be re-conducted on account of unprecedented violence, thuggery and hijacking of electoral materials on elections day. I want to remind us that this act should not repeat itself because conducting elections go with huge costs.”
He lamented that he had conducted elections in some parts of the country and other parts of the world, but Akwa Ibom was the first state since 2010 where rerun election would be conducted, adding, “It has never happened before.”