October 23, (THEWILL) -The Chairman of the Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC), Mr Aniedi Ikoiwak, has stated that the state Governor, Pastor Umo Eno had at no point influenced the October 5 local government election in favour of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Ikoiwak, who stated this on Tuesday, while declaring open a 2-Day 2024 post-election retreat in Uyo, said that the commission was given free hands to operate without taking directives from the governor on how the election should be conducted.
Though he admitted that he was under pressure from some powerful politicians to manipulate the election in favour of certain interests, he said he resisted such manipulations and chose to deliver a credible exercise.
“Compared to the local government elections conducted in other states, Governor Umo Eno did not give us any directives. The governor didn’t call us at any time to say do this or do that in favour of anybody or his political party.
“We are not saying we didn’t meet with the governor but it was to request funds to do certain things in the political atmosphere but certainly not to say this is how and where I want the election to go. So I will say that there was no overbearing influence from the governor.
“Definitely politicians will like to influence the process in their favour but certainly we were not compromised.
“Talking about rigging I will say that if you leave election material, the first instinct of a typical politician will be how to carry it for his own interest even if that material is there for him”. He explained
Ikoiwak disclosed that individuals and political parties have started going to court to challenge the outcome of the election, adding that it is a process stage in elections.
“People have gone to court which is a normal process. I have said that the election is in there stages, the pre-election, the election proper and the post-election.
“At the post-election stage, the commission does not have a say because people will assess what you did. People will definitely go to court to challenge the outcome of the election.
“People look at the court process as not a setback but a learning process because maybe there are few things that we didn’t do well and the court will say this is how it should have been done”, he said.
The retreat, according to the electoral umpire, was organised for the Commission to appraise itself on the election with the aim of identifying loopholes for improvements in future.
