According to a report in The Nations newspaper, a Federal High Court in Abuja has directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize and publish Godswill Akpabio’s name as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Akwa Ibom North-west District for the 2023 elections.
According to The Nation, Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the decision on Thursday in Abuja.
According to the article, the court determined that since the APC had submitted Mr. Akpabio’s name to the election commission, INEC had violated the law by refusing to accept and publish it.
Due to INEC’s failure to oversee the APC primary that Mr. Akpabio claimed to have won, the commission refused to recognize him as a candidate. INEC is given authority to oversee political party primaries under Nigerian electoral law.
Mr. Akpabio, a former minister of Niger Delta affairs, ran in the APC presidential primary in Abuja but withdrew in favor of Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, who won the nomination for the position.
