By Bayo Alabira
Dutse
Akwa Ibom State chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) Akwa Ibom State chapter has conceded defeat in the just concluded local government election, stating that it is focusing on the 2019 general elections.
The party state chairman, Dr. Ahmadu Atai, stated this yesterday in swift reaction to the results of the council election, stressing that the party will not challenge the result, instead it would conserve its energy and resources to prosecute the 2019 general election.
“We don’t want to enter into such a distraction for now, 2019 is very close. The state government had done what they wanted and had scored 329 over 329; 31 over 31. Let us rather prepare for 2019. We have been able to show them that we are on ground; 2019 is not very far.
“We have told our candidates who may wish to challenge their election in court to do so. But, such a member should come for us to extract an agreement that they wouldn’t disturb us. So far, nobody had come forward to say they want to challenge the result,” Atai said.
Meanwhile, the PDP state Publicity Secretary, Mr. Ini Ememobong, has dismissed the APC stating that the council election clearly indicates likely outcome of the 2019 general elections.
He described the APC’s acceptance of defeat in the council election as 2019 the pre-election concession speech that the PDP would win.
“They already know the outcome of what such a challenge would mean, because in 2015, they challenged the result up to the Supreme Court and they got the result. So, we are waiting for them in 2019 to beat them again and let them challenge it,” he said.
Penultimate Saturday, the PDP won all the 31 local government chairmanship seats and 329 councillor-ship positions in the state.
