INEC supporting Emmanuel, says Akpabio

•Senator confident of Buhari’s victory

Senator Godswill Akpabio has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of working with Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel.

According to him, while the commission is an independent body, some of its officials are not completely independent.

Akpabio, who addressed reporters in Abuja, said Governor Emmanuel was working with some officials of the commission to compromise the elections, and has also deployed money to entice the people.

He was, however, confident of President Muhammadu Buhari winning the presidential election, saying the greatest undoing of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate was his promise to sell the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which, according to him, amounts to making people of the Niger Delta tenants in their own land.

He said: “You know that INEC is an Independent body, but some of its officials are not totally independent. We have noticed some unholy alliances with the government in power in some states. For example, in Akwa Ibom, we have seen the body language of the government, which clearly shows that it will not be able to conduct credible elections, giving the parties, particularly the APC, a level playing ground.

“APC has no intention of taking Akwa Ibom. The only intention of APC is to reflect the will of the people which today remains 80-90 per cent APC. My people are quite determined to join the centre politics; some of them, who are politicians, have been defecting and those who are not politicians are declaring their support for the APC.

“When people are with you, you will win election, but when they are not with you, you don’t win. These are not hired crowds. People say they have doubt about Akwa Ibom will become an APC state. I can tell you that Akwa Ibom is already an APC state, just waiting for election to happen.

“I believe strongly that the APC has done well, particularly in the last two months of campaigns. We thank God that the President was able to show not just his fitness, but his capacity and capability to continue to run the affairs of the country till 2023…”