I Was Robbed In 2019 — My Votes Were Set Ablaze!” – Akpabio Cries Out Over Election Injustice

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has alleged that he was unfairly treated during the 2019 general elections, claiming that his votes were deliberately burnt in his local government area.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Speaking on Thursday during the Senate’s confirmation hearing of Joash Amupitan as the substantive Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Akpabio recounted how the incident left him frustrated and disillusioned with the electoral process.

He said that after challenging the outcome in court, the wrong person was held accountable for the alleged malpractice.

“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 went after the returning officer—a professor from the University of Calabar who had served for 34 years,” Akpabio explained.

“He was sentenced to three years in prison, yet the same INEC Commissioner, working with his cohorts, twisted the story to suggest that the man was trying to help me. If he was trying to assist me, why were my votes burnt in my local government? Why was I not declared the winner? I chose to remain silent then,” he added.

The Senate President argued that future amendments to the Electoral Act must ensure that the real perpetrators of electoral fraud are held accountable.

“In any amendment to the Electoral Act, the true offenders must be punished. A returning officer can only announce results based on what is collated at the centres. But when a Resident Electoral Commissioner deploys security agents to hijack results and move them to his office—which violates the law—and the court still prosecutes the wrong person, then we must question INEC’s internal accountability,” Akpabio said