Some delegates from Akwa Ibom State have protested against a controversial court order stopping them from being accredited for Tuesday’s presidential election of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The delegates who were visibly angry alleged foul play, describing it as an attempt to disenfranchise them.
Some of the delegates who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, told one of our reporters that the court order was served by an official.
A delegate who is also a local government chairman in the state alleged that the court case leading to the court order was orchestrated to frustrate the aspiration of a former governor of the state, Godswill Akpabio, who is banking on bulk votes from the delegates from the state to clinch the presidential ticket.
Mr Akpabio is among the 23 aspirants jostling for the APC presidential ticket.
“The content of the court order was not revealed to us (delegates) before asking us not to vote,” a member of the state delegate told our reporter.
Some of the delegates also linked the court case to a former Senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East District, James Akpan Udo-Edehe, who recently defected to the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) to realise his governorship ambition.
PREMIUM TIMES has yet to see a copy of the court order.
The controversy comes amidst the leadership tussle in the Akwa Ibom chapter of the party.
Hundreds of delegates are being accredited at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja ahead of the ruling All Progressives Congress’s presidential primary.
There are a total of 93 delegates from Akwa Ibom State.
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