By Emma Akpabio - 17/01/20

The Independent National Electoral commission- INEC, at its 51st regular meeting held on 5th December, 2019, discussed rerun elections arising from the petition following the 2019 general elections. Accordingly, in a release signed by Festus Okoye, there were 28 Court-ordered elections to be conducted across 12 States of the federation. After due consideration of several issues, INEC decided to hold the 28 Court-ordered rerun elections on Saturday, 25th January, 2020.

Consequently, there will be a rerun elections in Essien Udim LGA of Akwa Ibom State for Essien Udim State Constituency, Ikot Ekpene Federal constituency and Ikot Ekpene Senatorial district.

With about Seven days to go, the undisputed, leading, unshaken determination and unity of purpose recently exhibited by the political juggernauts and supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State and Essien Udim Local government Area in particular, have actually accentuated the eagerness of the dominant party to retain Victory during the court-ordered rerun election in Essien Udim local government area, come Saturday, 25th January, 2020.

Immediately after the manipulations instead of Primaries that produced Hon. Nse Ntuen as the All Progressive congress' flag bearer for Essien Udim State Constituency, Rt Hon Emmanuel Akpan as the flag bearer for Essien Udim, Obot Akara and Ikot Ekpene Federal Constituency and Senator Godswill Akpabio as the flag bearer for Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, the PDP which is the dominant political party in the area, didn't lose sleep, considering the poor performance of the trio in their last political offices, respectively. Of course, it is no longer news that amongst the three senators that represented Akwa Ibom in the 8th National assembly, the former Senate Minority leader- Senator Akpabio had the least number of bills to his credit when compared to that of Senators Bassey Albert and Nelson Effion. To this end, If Law making is the primary responsibility of a legislator, then Former Governor Akpabio remains the the worst Senator Akwa Ibom State ever had between 2015 and 2019.

Having been the political party that has Uncommonly transformed Akwa Ibom State since the return of democracy in 1999, Peoples Democratic Party has become a culture for citizens and residents of the largest oil producing state in Nigeria. This was absolutely demonstrated during the 2019 general elections when Godswill Akpabio, a man that was once adored and respected by his people was outrightly rejected for jumping ship to an unknown party in the State.

On the other hand, the All Progressive Congress which is supposed to be the main opposition party in Akwa Ibom State is currently faced with chaos, fiasco and indecision due to the purported withdrawal of the Hon. Minister of Niger Delta Affairs from the January 25th Court- Ordered rerun. Though INEC, through the later signed by Odar Aisien, on behalf of the State Resident Electoral Commisioner has cleared the air that no substitution of Candidate will be allowed for the court- ordered rerun.

"The Commision wishes to restate that there will be no substitution or withdrawal of candidates who contested the 2019 general elections in this court- ordered rerun elections in Essien Udim" INEC emphasized.

The rerun Election remains a walkover for the PDP because of the crops of candidates fielded by the supposed main opposition party- APC. Besides, the weight of APC as a veritable platform of the opposition in Essien Udim LGA is doubtful mainly because its strength revolved around the so called "Nationalist" who had actually abandoned his people first as a Governor for 8years and as a Senator for 4years only to return for the elections. It could be recalled that Senator Akpabio in a bid to win a second term elections had tried to execute some constituency projects in Obo Annang Market even after the expiration of his tenure. It is worth mentioning that Essien Udim is divided into two political blocs of Essien Annang and Afaha; Senator Akpabio abandoned the people of Afaha throughout his 12 years of occupying the exalted positions of Governor and Senator. Therefore, Stating that he was a factional uncommon transformer is simply stating the obvious. The Akwa Ibom State PDP was not wrong as a party, in her statement that "His withdrawal from the race was simply to save his face from shame of failure".

It is on record that the highest crisis that ever rocked the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly since inception was spearheaded by the APC candidate for Essien Udim State Constituency -Hon. Nse Ntuen. Ntuen who whose seat was declared vacant by Speaker of the 6th Assembly - Onofiok Luke, alongside four others for defecting to another party, found his ways to the hallowed chambers at odd hour where he declared himself the Speaker, thereby causing unnecessary tension in the State. It is still a surprise how a party that wants to win elections will field such a man who was sacked in his first term in addition to his poor performance both as a legislator and as a two termed elected Chairman of Essien Udim LGA. It's on record that Rt Hon. Ntuen is one of the legislators in Akwa Ibom State that never held a constituency briefing.

Some political analysts posit that Rt Hon Emmanuel Akpan who represented Ikot Ekpene Federal Constituency in the 8th National Assembly can never get votes from Essien Udim people despite being his home local government area. The APC candidate was never caught by the camera making useful contributions on the floor of the National Assembly. No body seems to even remember if he ever seconded a motion not to talk of moving a fresh motion through out his stay in the green chambers between 2015 and 2019. Many people are still wondering what motivates Akpan to think that he can defeat Rt Hon Nsikak Ekong who represented his people effectively in the State House of Assembly for 8years. Besides, Ekong still remains a force in the current 9th National Assembly.

The greatest problem of the APC ahead of the January rerun in Essien Udim is the unexpected unity amongst all the king makers and grass root mobilizers in the area. The constant defection rocking the broom party everyday, makes the Candidates reluctant to campaign ahead of the rerun. This explains why the PDP is the only party campaigning, ahead of the rerun election.

With Obong Senator Christopher Ekpenyong and his recent performance in the senate, Rt Hon Nsikak Ekong and Barr Esse Gerald Umoh as the PDP candidate for Ikot Ekpene Senatorial district, Ikot Ekpene Federal Constituency and Essien Udim State Constituency, respectively, not even the Federal might or Rev Fr Mbaka can predict a win for the broom party during the Election.
January 25 Rerun election is a walkover for the People's Democratic Party.

Issa win win 4 da peoples party