I did not fail; I can’t fail, Akpabio says after senatorial loss to PDP candidate

Former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has promised to challenge his loss in the February 23 National Assembly elections.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, on Tuesday, had declared Dr Chris Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party as the winner of the senatorial election in the Ikot-Ekpene Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom State.

According to the result declared by the INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Peter Ogbang, Ekpenyong, who is a former deputy governor, scored 118,215 votes to defeat the incumbent senator, Akpabio of the All Progressives Congress, who secured 83,158 votes.

The result was announced at the INEC headquarters in Uyo instead of Ikot-Ekpene because of alleged security threats in the area.

But Akpabio, who spoke on The Verdict, a live programme of Channels Television, on Wednesday, vowed to challenge the collation of the results, adding that he could not lose the election.

The senator said, “I won. It’s a temporary setback. That is why there are processes. For instance, if you feel that you were cheated or there was wrong collation, you have recourse to the courts. I did not fail; I can’t fail.

“I believe strongly that there must have been some wrong collation somewhere. Those things will be corrected. We have processes in the election. It’s from one stage; we have to do registration, vote and collate.

“As far as there is a mistake anywhere, you go to the court and get your mandate. My mandate is somewhere waiting for me. My people know that I can’t fail elections.”