Ahead of the April 15, 2023 supplementary elections for the Abak federal constituency of Akwa Ibom State, which were declared inconclusive, a human rights lawyer, Comrade Inibehe Effiong, has petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over alleged plot to rig the polls.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Clement Jimbo, had led with 2,962 votes margin against the incumbent lawmaker, Aniekan Umanah, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before INEC declared the polls inconclusive.
At a joint press conference in Uyo, the state capital, Effiong, in a petition to INEC national chairman, alleged that there is a plot by the PDP and the resident electoral commissioner (REC), Cyril Onoregbe, to stage-manage the supplementary election in favour of the PDP candidate.
He therefore called for the removal of the electoral officer (EO) of Etim Ekpo local government area, where most of the polls would hold.
In the same vein, the APC candidate, Jimbo, wondered why he was not declared winner of the contest in line with the relevant sections of the Electoral Act, having polled