The Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC) has distanced itself from Prof. Inyang Ating, who declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Enobong Patrick, as the winner in Essien Udim Local Government Area (LGA).
This followed the confusion that trailed the LGA election where the electoral body declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner while Ating, who announced himself as the returning officer for the LGA in a viral video, declared the candidate of the PDP as the winner.
Essien Udim is the home LGA of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, a senior member of the APC.
But the AKISIEC Chairman, Aniedi Ikoiwak, yesterday confirmed that the official Returning Officer (RO) for Essien Udim was Prof. Uduak Okon from the Department of Medical Sciences at the University of Uyo, not Ating, as claimed in the viral video.
Ikoiwak revealed that the Assistant Electoral Officer (AEO) had reported that the Electoral Officer (EO) assigned to Essien Udim absconded with ballot materials. In response, the AEO was dispatched with new materials to conduct the election and return with the results.
He further explained that Prof. Okon announced the official results, declaring the APC candidate, Ntiedo Usoro, as the winner with 51,751 votes, while the PDP candidate, Enobong Patrick, garnered 22,799 votes.
"The individual claiming to be the Returning Officer in Essien Udim was not on the official list of appointees for Saturday's election. The purported PDP victory shown in the video was exaggerated, and no protests were observed from the supposed winner's supporters," Ikoiwak stated.
He continued, "Once it was discovered that the actions of the polling officer in Essien Udim were irregular, those involved rushed to Ewet Housing to stage the video, using drivers and unidentified individuals as their audience to mislead the public."
Ikoiwak clarified that by the time the unofficial results were submitted, the authentic Essien Udim results had already been recorded and filed.
He however did not state whether legal actions would be taken against Ating for his acts.
