APC Members in Akwa Ibom close ranks, to work together

Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Akwa Ibom State have called on all members to embrace peace to enable the party win the forthcoming election in the state.

As part of the preparation to welcome the Presidential Campaign Train to the state, all the warring factions in the APC have agreed to bury the hatchet and work together to ensure that the party comes out victorious in the 2023 election across all levels in the State.

Those who spoke at the Press briefing include the Governorship Candidate of the party, Senator Ita Enang, Ita Toyo and Others.

STAKEHOLDERS RAISE THE ALARM OVER INSECURITY, ELECTION

With barely 50 days to the 2023 General Election, the atmosphere is getting charged up for the once in four years general election.

Political actors from different political parties are busy criss-crossing the length and breath of the country to pass their messages in a unique manner that will earn them people’s trust to be elected in next year’s polls.

Independent National Electoral Commission being the electoral umpire is not also leaving any stone unturned to ensure candidates with the highest vote cast in the elections carry the day

Although, the commission’s facilities have been under severe attacks, a notion many feel may hinder the smooth running and success of the election.

Just recently, president Muhammadu Buhari in the United States, assured the international communities of his determination to ensure a free, fair, credible and violent free election in 2023.

A position many are apprehensive about, considering the daily attacks of INEC facilities and killings of some politicians across the country.

INEC on its own, recently came up with a position, claiming that it’s has recorded about 50 different attacks on his facilities in four years, seeking the partnership of National Assembly and Security agencies to contain the wave of the unfortunate incidents.

“According to INEC data, Imo state had the highest number of attacks with 11 incidents, followed by Osun 7, Akwa Ibom 5, Enugu 5, Ebonyi 4, Cross River 4, Abia 4, Anambra 2, Taraba 2, Borno 1, Ogun 1, Lagos 1, Bayelsa 1, Ondo 1 and Kaduna 1.

The breakdown showed that in 2019, INEC recorded 8 attacks, 22 in 2020, 12 in 2021 and 8 in 2022.

20 of these attacks were described as arson, 26 vandalism while 4 were said to be arson and vandalism.

20 of the attacks were allegedly perpetrated by Unknown gunmen, 18 were triggered by the #ENDSARS protests, 7 of the attacks were carried out by thugs during elections, 4 resulted from post election violence , 1 was carried out by bandits while another was by Boko Haram”.

Out of the 50 attacks, South East alone recoded 26 attacks from, a position which is not far fetch from the continuous push by a section of the agitating group, insisting that no elections would hold in the sub region

Several efforts were made to douse the tension, with the established fact of having a prominent Igbo son, Peter Obi who is among the 2023 presidential hopeful.

South East Governors Forum, Igbo stakeholders and the leading Igbo Social Cultural Group, Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide have made several efforts to ensure the spate of killings and attacks of government facilities are abated, but it yield little or no results.

The major contenders especially for the Presidential Election are the APC, PDP, LP and the NNPP.