Clement Jimbo of the All Progressives Congress has defeated his PDP Opponent , Aniekan Umanah to claim the seat in the House of Representatives for Abak/Etim Ekpo/Ika Federal Constituency, that of Ikono/Ini federal constituency which was held the same saturday has however been cancelled by INEC due to widespread violence.
Mr. Clement Jimbo polled a total 22, 225 as against Umanah’s 20, 793 votes at the end of the supplementary election conducted on Saturday April 15, 2023.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom, Dr Cyril Omorogbe, who disclosed this to newsmen in his office described the rerun in the area as abysmal.
Omorogbe said that the election were cancelled in all the 17 polling units that the rerun took place as a result of snatching of electoral materials, including Bi-Modal Voters Accreditation Machine System (BVAS)
“They were fighting all through the local Government Area in the 17 polling units in the area. I received a report from the Collation Officers that suppose to collate the result in the area that election did not hold.
“The whole exercise of those 17 polling units, they were either hijacked, disrupted, people were being chased and other things of that nature.
“From the Collation Officers in the field who were supposed to collate they all came back and have written reports and the result sheets they were supposed to fill are all here. Apparently, there was no election for now.” Omorogbe said.
He expressed regret that the violence led to the shooting of one of the corps members on duty on his leg, the male corps member serving as Ad-hoc staff at Ikot Efre, Itak unit 2, in Itak ward 11(eleven) was said to have been beaten mercilessly by suspected political thugs.
The contest for the Ikono/Ini Federal House seat is between incumbent House of Representatives member Mr. Emmanuel Ukpong Udo, who moved from the PDP to the Young Peoples Party (YPP)to seek second-time re-election and the PDP candidate and immediate Past Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Glory Edet.
Similarly, political thugs reportedly disrupted the exercise in Etim Ekpo LGA Ward 7 at Ibio Nnung Achat community and Etok Uruk Eshiet Ward 3, by hijacking election materials.
