Youths of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State have demanded the suspension of a retired Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Udom Ekpoudum and a former presidential aide, Senator Ita Enang, and others over alleged anti-party activities.
The youths under the auspices of the Progressive Young People Movement, flayed their roles in allegedly stalling the candidatures of Akan Udofia and Godswill Akpabio through legal actions.
They went on to call on President Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential flag bearer, Bola Tinubu and the national chairman of the party, Alh. Abdullahi Adamu, to wade into the litigation crisis in the state.
Recall that some APC chieftains in the state had dragged the party to court, thereby slowing down the level of its preparations towards the 2023 general election in the state.
While Ita Enang’s suit at the Federal High Court in Uyo led to the nullification of the candidacy of the party’s governorship candidate, Akan Udofia, the ex-DIG’s appeal case which was decided on Tuesday in Abuja, saw the removal of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the authentic candidate for the Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial candidate.
Briefing newsmen on Friday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the coordinator of the group, Mr Ubokobong Michael, said their actions violated Articles 2, 7 and 9 and Article 21 of the APC Constitution (as amended) 2022, and flouted presidential directive that every aspirant of the party should withdraw lawsuits against candidates and explore party internal mechanisms to resolve all post-primary elections issues.
He expressed concern over anti-party activities exhibited by the APC stalwarts, adding that their actions are contradictory to the dictates of the party’s constitution.
He said: “APC Akwa Ibom State cannot continue to suffer setbacks due to lawsuits instituted by members of the party against the party. We all know that a house divided against itself cannot stand. We don’t want to play opposition again, therefore, we can’t afford to lose the 2023 general elections.
“Senator Ita Enang, DIG Udom Ekpoudom, and Mr Austin Utuk flouted the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, and continued with lawsuits against Senator Godswill Akpabio, APC candidate for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial and Obong Akanimo Udofia, APC gubernatorial candidate, to obtain a politically-influenced judgment against the party.”