Amid controversies surrounding the return of Senate President Ahmed Lawan and Sen. Godswill Akpabio to the upper chamber in 2023, INEC has come up with another shocker.
The AP has no candidate yet in Akwa Ibom orth est and Yobe North, said INEC National Commissioner Festus Okoye.
“In these two constituencies, two names were forwarded and the Commission made a determination that the names were not persons who emerged from a validly conducted party primaries and we did not publish their names. That is where we are,” Okoye said on Channels TV on Sunday.
“Their (Akpabio and Lawan) names were uploaded by the APC to our candidates’ nomination portal, but the Commission made a determination that they were not the candidates that emerged from valid party primaries.
“The Commission didn’t publish their names and their particulars in their constituencies. So, the implication is that as of today, the APC does not have candidates in those two constituencies.”
Akpabio and Lawan didn’t hedge their bets well enough when they ventured into the presidential race. The former Niger Delta Affairs minister stepped down for APC national leader Bola Tinubu while Lawan lost.
In the meantime, other senatorial candidates emerged, and refused to step down whe the two came back to grab the tickets.