The All Progressives Congress candidate in Oron/Udung
Uko State Constituency in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Victor
Okon, has withdrawn from the rerun into the state
House of Assembly.
Okon, who erroneously described his party, the APC as
the All Peoples Congress, contested against Peoples
Democratic Party candidate in the constituency, Mr.
Effiong Bassey, in the April 11, 2015 House of Assembly
election.
Bassey, who was declared winner of the April poll by
the Independent National Electoral Commission, was
challenged by Okon in the Court of Appeal.
Okon, in a letter to the Resident Electoral Commissioner
in the state through the state chairman of the APC on
March 4, notified the party chairman of his withdrawal
from the scheduled rerun in the Oron/Udung Uko State
Constituency for March 12.
He said, “I contested the April 11, 2015 election into the
Oron/Udung Uko State Constituency on the platform of
the All Peoples Congress. The election which was won
by Effiong Bassey was set aside by the Court of Appeal
upon the successful prosecution of the petition and the
appeal arising there from. The rerun is scheduled for
March 12, 2016.
“However, after due consultation with my family and
immediate constituency, I have declared to withdraw
from the rerun fixed for March 12, 2016 for very
personal reasons. I have also already resigned from the
All Peoples Congress.”
It was learnt that Okon was wooed by the
PDP with N40m to withdraw from the rerun following
his popularity and the overwhelming support for the
APC in the area.
All attempts to extract confirmation from Okon failed,
as he bluffed questions from journalists saying that all
he had to say was contained in the press statement and
the resignation letter he gave to journalists after
signing it.
The state APC vice chairman, Mr. Kufre Inyangette,
described Okon’s action as an act of betrayal. He said
Okon could not be trusted.
He asked Nigerians to watch out for people like Okon
who might seek for elective positions in the future.
Inyangette said, “Okon is one of those who
compromised and got the money from the PDP. He has
shown the kind of people we have in Nigeria whom you
cannot trust in their life time.
“He went with us to the tribunal and to the Appeal
Court, and a rerun was ordered. He wasted our energy
and resources and when he reached home, he
negotiated for N30m with the PDP.
“We knew about this, but it did not come to the open.
Like yesterday, I was at the INEC office. I asked that all
the materials for Oron/Udung Uko State Constituency
should be sent down. If he had told me that he was
withdrawing from the rerun, I would not have wasted
my time and energy.”
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