The Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Mike Igini, on Friday reprimanded the legal team of the All Progressives Congress in the state for failing to inspect election materials used in the 2019 polls.
The APC legal team, led by Victor Iyanam, had threatened to charge INEC for contempt of court over its alleged refusal to allow it to inspect election materials as granted by the election petitions tribunal chairman, Justice W. Akanbi.
But speaking at a media briefing in his office, Igini expressed dissatisfaction with the APC legal team, saying its action was mischievous and meant to draw sympathy from the public.
He said, “The lawyers of the APC governorship candidate, Nsima Ekere, came to the commission with an order from the tribunal for the first time on April, 25, 2019. He did not come back again to inspect the materials on that day.
“He came to inform the commission of the order and to get it to prepare for the inspection. The lawyer was told to return the next day so that INEC’s legal team could jointly work out a schedule for the inspection. He did not return. He only came back on April, 30, 2019.
“However, between April 25 and 30, before we could work out the modalities for the inspection, the legal team for Nsima Ekere had convened a press conference accusing INEC of denying them access to election materials and threatening contempt against the Resident Electoral Commission.”