The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State has said it is ready and confident that it would win the state and National Assembly rerun elections in Essien Udim local government area.
State Chairman of the party, Obong Paul Ekpo in a press conference Friday urged all party faithful in Essien Udim and the entire state to be rest assured that the party will reaffirm its victory at the rerun election.
”For the rerun in Essien Udim Local Government area which will hold for the State and National Assembly, we can assure the world that we are making adequate preparations for the elections.
“We will go to this election, like we went to the previous, with the name of the Lord and as before, we will win again.
“Only God saw us through the most turbulent elections in our state’s history and we are more than certain that with HIM at the fore, our victory in all of the rerun elections is sure.
“Very soon we will roll out our campaign timetable which will be vigorously pursued. We charge our ward and chapter officers in Essien Udim to begin to energize our grassroots structures in preparation for our impending roll out”, he said.
Ekpo expressed satisfaction with judgments of different panels of the Court of Appeal in Calabar, adding that it was a surprise that PDP won in all except one.
“They have completed their task and have delivered judgements on all appeals emanating from the judgements of the Election Petition Tribunal for the 2019 National and State House of Assembly elections held on February 23 and March 9 respectively.
“The Appellate Court has upheld all the Tribunal judgements that were given in our favour, except one and the only judgement that was given by the Tribunal against us has been quashed and re-election ordered.
“We sincerely appreciate the intellectual industry invested in the delivery of the judgments by the Learned Justices of the Court of Appeal.
“They have proven to the world that our country’s judiciary is constituted by persons of towering integrity and unbending honesty, applying extant laws to presented facts and delivering judgements according to Law, irrespective of political affiliations.
“This explains why we have accepted all the Judgements of the Court in good faith, even when one did not go in favour of our Party,” he said.
The PDP state chairman admonished lawmakers of the PDP stock whose victories were revalidated by the Appeal Court to be magnanimous in victory by extending their service to everyone in their constituency regardless of party affiliation.
“To our successful Lawmakers, whose seats have been judicially confirmed, we urge them to see their mandate as a call to service and not a mark of superiority over their constituents.
“They should endeavour to reach out to their fellow contestants and share knowledge for the good of the state. A reasonable victor must be magnanimous in victory.
“We must keep in mind that at the end of the tenure, the verdict of the people will be given on our performance. However, at this instance, all our victorious candidates deserve our congratulatory felicitations.
“To our party faithful in Mbo, I urge them to accept the judgement of the court of Appeal reversing our victory at the polls and exhibit political maturity. They must ensure that a peaceful political environment is preserved in the best interest of the Akwa Ibom project”, he maintained.
