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IGINI IS MATERIAL FOR INEC CHAIRMANSHIP – EKONG SAMPSON

…Explains Why APC Owes Udom A Handshake

 

By Edifon ABASI-OBOT

 

Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Economic Development, Labour and Manpower Planning, Barrister Ekong Sampson, has described the State Resident Electoral Commissioner in the State, Mr. Mike Igini, as a great material for the chairmanship of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

 

Barrister Ekong Sampson, who spoke on a live radio programme on Planet (101.1) FM, said the exceptional demonstration of character, integrity and steadfastness by the Akwa Ibom State REC during the 2019 elections in the state, qualifies him for the Nigeria’s topmost election umpire job.

 

The Commissioner Expressed disapproval over attempts by some politicians to vilify Mr. Igini, instead of commending the courage to uphold his integrity in the face of challenges, and urged that it was high time Nigerians saw the need to add value to the nation’s democracy by giving due consideration to character and integrity and removing desperation from the body politic.

 

Speaking about the Akwa Ibom State elections, Barrister Sampson said having a picture where all 13 National Assembly seats went to the PDP, the message was very clear that the PDP was sure going to win the state elections.

 

Barrister Sampson maintained that Akwa Ibom is a PDP state, led by a Governor who has done so well and has brought innovations into governance. He said it was just as well that Governor Udom Emmanuel won the elections, adding that the spontaneous jubilations across the state confirmed the fact that there is no family in Akwa Ibom State without a PDP faithful and that the victory was well deserved.

 

He however decried the scenario which according to him is typical of Africa, where losers do not tell themselves the truth, but chose to conjure pictures of imaginative victories.

 

He said in some other parts, politics is played as a game, at the end losers shake hands with winners, and in some cases, share some bottles of understanding and live moves on, but in Africa the game is played with so much vindictiveness that sometimes one wonders if the workings of democracy are really appreciated.

 

Reacting to the APC claims to have won 26 LGAs in the State, Ekong Sampson said it could have been a dream, but maintained that in as much as everyone has right to dream dreams, it is important to consider the state as a bigger picture and see how such narrative sinks in.

 

“Here was an election where the PDP simply held the ground and won the game, based on Udom Emmanuels outstanding profile and records in office. For a party to claim it won 26 LGAs in Akwa Ibom State was the height of hallucination,” Sampson said, further describing the 2019 elections as such that really challenged the Akwa Ibom people, hence pulled them together even the more.

 

Rehashing his pre-election admonition on the need for handshakes across borders, Barrister Sampson said what the APC owes Governor Udom Emmanuel and other winners in the elections is a handshake, beyond self and party lines, in the interest of the bigger Akwa Ibom picture.

 

Recalling former President Goodluck Jonathan’s reaction to the 2015 elections, the Commissioner said Jonathan had all the powers to have done otherwise; he had the time to have raised the stakes; he had the opportunity to have allowed tension prevail, but turned the next page, showed himself a statesman and a truer patriot than some had ever thought, by looking at the bigger picture of national interest.

 

In his words, “we were on the tenterhook, hovering over the precipice when Jonathan felt that having been a mediator in other parts of Africa, he turned the next page. That concession earned him an all-time respect of the entire world,” Barrister Sampson said, adding that this should challenge the players in Akwa Ibom State to look beyond personal persuasions and party affinity to place state interest as paramount.

 

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