From Fred Itua, Abuja
Despite his active participation in All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State activities in the State, the party bas disowned the newly-appointed Resident Electoral Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Etekamba Umoren as a member of the party.
Addressing in Abuja on Sunday, the party through the Special Adviser to the President of the Senate on Media, Eseme Eyiboh, said even when it welcomes the appointment of Umoren, it frowns at allegations that the appointee is a card carrying member of the party in Akwa Ibom.
It argued that the pictures of Umoren adorned in APC campaign attire are not enough to conclude that he is a bonafade member of the party.
The party called on those pushing the allegations to discredit the appointment of Umoren to come forward with concrete evidence of his registered membership as outlined in the party’s constitution, pointing out that the pictures of him in APC attire could have been photo shopped, adding that his previous appointments as Secretary to the state Government and Chief of Staff to the current President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has nothing to do with partisanship.
The appointment of Etekamba Umoren has been a subject of controversy with Civil Societies involved in Nigeria’s electoral process kicking that his appointment was in breach of the law that rules out any politically exposed person from taking the position.
Eyiboh said: “The issue of Sir Etekarnba Umoren as a nominee, Resident Electoral Commissioner, is very clear. And I’m also aware of the petitions, complaints, and all of that. I can tell you that the law on the issue of the person who should not be said it should not be a cat-caring member of a political party.
“Etekarnba Umoren is a bureaucrat. He served in Akwa Ibom State Executive as a permanent secretary. He was a career Civil Servant as a permanent secretary. And he was employed in that same executive, not by the political party, as the Chief of Staff and then Secretary to State Government not to serve a political party but to serve a government.
“So there is difference between a political party appointment and the government appointment. I have also seen that some alleged he wore the uniform of the APC. The law is very strict on who is a member of a political party.
“The member of the political party must be not only a card-carrying member of that party, he must be in a good financial standing with that political party.
“His name must be among the registered members of that political party. The prescription has nothing to do with uniform or mode of dressing.
“I’m sure you are also aware, in this age of artificial intelligence (AI), I can wear this cloth and then they can change this garment to become a suit. So you must be aware that the possibility of cloning is also possible. You can’t rule that out. But what substantially defines a member of a political organization or party is the register of membership. Two, meeting the criteria so set out by that organisation.
“So it is not true. It is speculative. It is spurious to say that Etekarnba is a member of the APC. That’s not correct.”