Consultant for Communication and Strategy to the Office of the Senate President, Ken Okolugbo, has unhesitatingly dismissed the allegations made against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, claiming he did not benefit from the electoral fraud orchestrated by Professor Peter Ogban in the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial Election.
In an interview with Arise News Television, he explained that Godswill Akpabio was the one who was wronged in the election, not the other way around. He claimed that the election in Akpabio’s local government area (Essien Udim) was nullified, which denied him a significant number of votes and resulted in his defeat.
When the case was brought before the Court of Appeal, Okolugbo revealed that the court ruled in Akpabio’s favour because he was evidently denied those votes. According to him, the Appeal Court then ordered that an election be reorganized in the Essien Udim local government area, which Akpabio willingly forfeited.
Ken Okolugbo stood firm in his position that Professor Peter Ogban worked against Godswill Akpabio and not in his favour during that electoral exercise.
His words: “The Appeal Court ruled in favour of Akpabio because they knew those votes were votes he was short-changed of. In election matters unless you are telling me the Appeal Court is not the highest court anymore. In election matters, the Appeal Court is the Supreme Court for House of Reps, Senate and house of Assembly, it is only Governorship Elections that get to the Supreme Court. The court of appeal ruled in favour of Akpabio and said they should go for a rerun”.
