INEC denies recognising Akpabio, Lawan as senatorial candidates

 By Eniola Akinkuotu

The Independent National Electoral Commission has denied recognizing Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senate President Ahmad Lawan as candidates of the All Progressives Congress.

Both Lawan and Akpabio had contested the APC Presidential primaries.

However, after losing, both of them were listed as senatorial candidates by the APC, but INEC refused to recognize them.

On Tuesday, there were reports that the two had finally been recognized by the commission.

Responding in a statement titled, ‘Spurious Allegations in Respect of Nomination of Candidates in Some Senatorial Districts’, the commission said it had not recognized them.

In the statement signed by INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, the commission said the matter was still in court and it would maintain the status quo.

“For the record, the commission has not recognized any of the two personalities as a senatorial candidate.

“We call for responsible reportage as against the unwarranted attack on the commission and its officials over a matter than can be easily fact-checked,” the statement read.

The commission said a certified true copy of Form 9C was uploaded by the APC and received by the Commission on  June 17, 2022, when the nomination portal closed was presented.

It explained that the Form EC9 submission of names of candidates by political parties is the form uploaded by parties on the INEC nomination portal.

“The forms of the two personalities in question were not published by the commission. The decision of the commission triggered legal actions which are still ongoing. It,, therefore defies logic and common sense to go around and submit doctored documents purportedly recognizing the duo as candidates when the matter is sub-judice,” it said.