There is a new lease of hope that the name of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Obong Akanimo Udofia, will be on the ballot in next year’s general election.
The Nation learnt at the weekend that stakeholders of the party in the state were engaging in reconciliatory talks with aggrieved aspirants, who were in court against Udofia’s emergence as the party’s candidate.
For instance, the former Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, is challenging in court the validity of the nomination process, which produced Udofia.
The petitions to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the court cases instituted by Ita Enang and other aggrieved candidates have caused legal impediments, barring Udofia’s name from being published by the commission.
The implication is that the APC may not have a governorship candidate in the state if the court cases linger, a situation stakeholders of the party are working assiduously to avert.
But speaking with The Nation at the weekend, the candidate of APC for Eket federal Constituency, Mr. Eseme Eyiboh, said there were engagements to pacify aggrieved aspirants to possibly withdraw the cases against Udofia.
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Eyiboh said there might be an out-of-court settlement to the pave way for INEC to list Udofia on the ballot and for APC to proceed with its governorship campaigns.
“There are a lot of engagements at the stakeholders’ level. So, the leaders and stakeholders of the party are sensitive to the goings on. You in the public that feel that this thing has gone to a point of no return, there are a lot of strategic engagements.
“All sorts of people involved in conflict resolution are engaging and the party will come out stronger. Almost all the political parties are in court over one issue or the other.
“Enang is a party man, a very experienced public officer, and a lawyer who understands alternative dispute resolution as a viable process in peace building.
“I am thinking that he is litigation-weary. All he did was as a result of anger, but I think anger is not a forever thing. So, I think a time has come that he is going to appreciate his position in the party and take some steps backwards and reversal to enjoy the respect he has been enjoying from party members across divides.
“Senator Godswill Akpabio and I are involved in peace and team building. Akpabio is a very critical team builder. I am not in doubt that his efforts along with others will not be in vain,” he said.