Court orders INEC to accept Akpabio as APC senatorial candidate

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accept and publish the name of Godswill Akpabio as the candidate of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) for Akwa Ibom North/West senatorial district in 2023.

Justice Emeka Nwite, in a judgment on Thursday, held that INEC acted illegally for refusing to accept and publish Akpabio’s name even when it was sent to it by the APC as its candidate.

INEC had refused to recognise Mr Akpabio as a candidate because the commission did not monitor the APC primary which he claimed to have won. Nigeria’s electoral law empowers INEC to monitor political party primaries.

Mr Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, contested the APC presidential primary in Abuja, but stepped down for the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, who emerged as the party presidential candidate.