I was cheated by INEC in 2019 election – Akpabio

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Thursday claimed that he was cheated during the 2019 election.

He made the remarks on the floor of the Senate during the confirmation hearing of Joash Amupitan as the substantive Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

According to Akpabio: “I was cheated in the 2019 elections, and we went to court. The court annulled the election and ordered the prosecution of the electoral officer, but instead of prosecuting the INEC commissioner, they prosecuted the returning officer, a professor from University of Calabar who has done 34 years in service.

“He was sentenced to three years imprisonment, the same INEC Electoral Commissioner working with some cohorts changed the story that the man was trying to assist Akpabio.

“If the man was trying to assist Akpabio, how come they burnt my votes in my local government, how come I was not announced as the winner? I kept quiet.

“If we are amending the Electoral Act, the real offenders must be held responsible because at the level of the returning officer, the man can only announce what is collated from the collation centres.

“But a situation where the Resident Electoral Commissioner send security men to go and hijack the announcement to his office which is against the Electoral Act and the court said the person who committed this offence should be prosecuted and they prosecuted the wrong person, then we must also look at what INEC is doing.

“INEC should be held responsible for certain infractions in the Electoral Act.”