The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has snubbed the petition by the All Progressives Congress, APC seeking the sack of the Akwa Ibom State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mike Igini.
The APC had in a petition received on July 3, 2022 sought the dismissal of Igini within 48 hours failing which it would seek other approaches to fire the human rights activist from his position.
The petition directed to the INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu was endorsed by the APC Zonal Organizing Secretary, South-South, Dr. Blessing Agbomhere.
The APC was yet to respond to the apparent rebuff of its plea to INEC to sack Igini.
Igini has been accused by the faction loyal to Senator Godswill Akpabio of working against its interest. Igini who in 2019 stopped schemes that were supposedly aimed to return Akpabio to the Senate has been accused by the former governor’s associates of again barring him from the Senate election in 2023.
In the petition against Igini, the APC accused Igini of “incessant act of bias, injustice, sabotage and malevolence meted out on the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom state.”
While reacting to the petition, Mike Igini dismissed the petition raised against him by the All Progressives Congress, APC saying that the petitioners were previous members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP who lack democratic values and identify with whatever ruling party to enable them rig elections.He spoke in reaction to the petition articulated by the APC South-South zone upon actions taken by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC as regarding the APC in Akwa Ibom.
They protested and President Jonathan told them to keep quiet that he brought Jega to sanitize the system. The CPC which was then the party of now President Buhari won an election and Tinubu’s ACN also won Obubra. Blessing was in the PDP then and rget accused me of being a member of the ACN.
Unfortunately, Nigeria is a country where there is no book of remembrance we cannot have a democracy without democrats. Where was this Blessing when gunmen invaded my house in Benin because I stood against the purported federal might? That same individual is now in the ruling party. I did same in 2014 in Osun. I did same thing in Anambra and in Imo when there was crisis and I was sent to intervene.