Breaking: Senator Akpabio Drops Out Of Akwa Ibom North-west Re-run Election

Senator Godswill Akpabio who is the minister of Niger Delta affairs, has pulled out of the planned Akwa Ibom North East senatorial re-run election,
Daily Sun reports.

Akpabio said, in a letter addressed to the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, that as a minister, a huge responsibility had been placed on him.

He explained that he couldn’t abandon an important assignment placed on him by President Muhammadu Buhari in pursuit of a re-run election. He urged the ruling party to write the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in line with Sections 33 and 35 of the Electoral Act, 2010, and submit a replacement to run in his place.

Akpabio's withdrawal is coming just 24 hours after, Akwa Ibom Liberation Movement (AILM) a foremost socio-political group raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the minister and the APC to substitute his name for another candidate ahead of the election.

The group made this known during a press briefing on Tuesday, 10th December, held at its secretariat in, Uyo, the state capital.

Solomon Abasiekong Esq, the group's secretary-general, reportedly said that the APC is planning to use the court to substitute Akpabio for Obong Luke Ekperikpe Ekpo, a former member of the House of Representatives.