Akpabio Insists: “I Didn’t Lose, The Results Will Be Corrected”

Former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has promised to challenge his loss in the February 23 National Assembly elections. In fact, he said he won the election.

According to the result declared by the INEC Returning Officer,

Chris Ekpenyong, who is a former deputy governor of Akwa Ibom state, scored 118,215 votes to defeat the incumbent senator, Akpabio of the All Progressives Congress, who secured 83,158 votes.

The result was announced at the INEC headquarters in Uyo instead of Ikot-Ekpene due to alleged security threats in the area.

But Akpabio, who spoke on The Verdict, a live programme of Channels Television, on Wednesday, vowed to challenge the collation of the results, adding that he could not lose the election.

The senator said, “I won. It’s a temporary setback. That is why there are processes. For instance, if you feel that you were cheated or there was wrong collation, you have recourse to the courts. I did not fail; I can’t fail.

“I believe strongly that there must have been some wrong collation somewhere. Those things will be corrected. We have processes in the election. It’s from one stage; we have to do registration, vote and collate.

“As far as there is a mistake anywhere, you go to the court and get your mandate. My mandate is somewhere waiting for me. My people know that I can’t fail elections.”