I didn’t fail, I can’t fail, Akpabio boasts of victory in court

Godswill Akpabio

Senator Godswill Akpabio has alleged that errors in the National Assembly election results led to the announcement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial candidate, Chris Ekpenyong, as winner of the Ikot-Ekpene Senatorial seat.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on Tuesday declared Mr Ekpenyong winner of the senatorial election in Ikot-Ekpene Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom State.

According to the INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Peter Ogbang, Ekpenyong polled 118,215 votes to defeat Akpabio who got 83,158 votes.

In an interview on The Verdict, a programme on Channels Television, on Wednesday, the former senate minority leader said he was optimistic that he would emerge winner in court.

Akpabio said, “I won. It’s a temporary setback. That is why there are processes. For instance, if you feel that you were cheated or there was wrong collation, you have recourse to the courts. I did not fail; I can’t fail.

“I believe strongly that there must have been some wrong collation somewhere. Those things will be corrected. We have processes in the election. It’s from one stage; we have to do registration, vote and collate.

“As far as there is a mistake anywhere, you go to the court and get your mandate. My mandate is somewhere waiting for me. My people know that I can’t fail elections.”