SAN FRANCISCO, March 11, (THEWILL) –Â The incumbent governor of Akwa Ibom State, Udom Emmanuel, has won re-election for a second term.
Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was announced the winner of the governorship election on Monday, in Uyo by the state returning officer, Faraday Orunmwense, a professor and vice chancellor of the University of Benin.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini, was present during the announcement.
The state chairman of the PDP, Paul Ekpo, and the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke, were present in collation centre.
Emmanuel defeated his main opponent, Nsima Ekere of the All Progressives Congress (APC), with 519, 712 votes.
Ekere, a former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) polled 171, 978 votes, and also lost in his Ikot Abasi Local Government Area.
Emmanuel won convincingly in 30 out the 31 local government areas in the state; he lost only in Essien Uditm, where Godswill Akpabio, a senator from the state, comes from.
Meanwhile, he APC rejected the election and accused INEC of assisting PDP to rig the election.
The APC representative at the state collation centre, Samuel Akpan, walked out of the centre after making known his party’s rejection of the election.
