October 5, (THEWILL) – The gubernatorial candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) is conspicuously missing on the list of cleared candidates for next year’s general elections as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
An announcement by the Electoral body which followed a list of Governorship candidates in the state published by the Commission and is posted on the official notice board along Udo Udoma Avenue, Uyo, disclosed that the party has no flagbearer in the gubernatorial polls.
According to the list which was signed by INEC’s secretary, Rose Oriaran Anthony, candidates of over 20 parties had names of their candidates listed as cleared, including Umo Eno of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was cleared alongside Akon Eyakenyi as the deputy governorship candidate, that of the APC was left blank.
The commission did not provide reasons why the party did not have a candidate for the governorship poll in Akwa Ibom state but findings by THEWILL reveal that APC has been embroiled in a protracted intra-party crisis which resulted in the governorship primaries held early this year to be conducted in two locations.
The main contenders, former interim national secretary of the APC, John James Udoedehe in the aftermath of the crisis that greeted the party’s primaries moved to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as its governorship candidate and has had his name published by the commission as made available to the public.
The other contender, Ita Solomon Enang, a former aide to President Muhammadu Buhari is currently in court challenging the alleged nomination of Akan Udofia as the party’s governorship candidate and whose name was not published by the commission.
Ita Enang had claimed that Akan Udofia was a governorship aspirant on the ticket of the PDP two days before the APC governorship primaries adding that Udofia should not have been nominated to fly the party’s flag.
Udofia, a businessman, has already picked Victor Antai as his running mate and had been busy consulting stakeholders ahead of the electioneering campaign before his name was dropped by INEC in the recently released list of governorship candidates.
With the absence of the APC in the governorship election, observers say it is likely to be a three-horse race between the PDP governorship candidate, Umo Eno, the candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Bassey Albert Akpan, a senator whose name has been published by the commission and the governorship candidate of the NNPP, James John Udoedehe.
In all, 36 governorship candidates drawn from 36 political parties are contesting the governorship election according to the list published by the commission.
Some of the governorship candidates cleared include Ekpo Ita Bassey of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Udo Anietie Augus, as his deputy who pleaded Senior Secondary School Examination while his principal is a lawyer.
Others include Ezekiel Nya Etok of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Iboro Otu Robert of the AAC, whose names have been published by INEC to contest the governorship race in 2023.
