The former Deputy Inspector General of Police and Senatorial candidate of the Akwa Ibom North-West under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, DIG Udom Ekpoudom(Retd) has insisted that senator Godswill Akpabio, the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs was never a Senatorial Aspirant of the district.

Recall that the nomination of Senator Akpabio as the candidate of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial district in a rerun primary held on June 9, 2022, at the civic center has caused a lot of controversy in the state.

Akpabio who was a presidential aspirant collapsed his structure during the party’s convention in Abuja for the presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, and thereafter came back to his district to get a Senatorial ticket whose election had already taken place on May 27.

The retired Police Chief who accused Akpabio of confusing the entire process vowed not to relinquish his ticket to Akpabio no matter the pressure.

Ekpoudom explained that in 2014, he had surrendered the slot for Abak Federal Constituency to Akpabio and vowed never to do it again in 2023.

However, it was a serious drama as APC recognized Akpabio as Akwa Ibom NorthWest Senatorial candidate while INEC adopted Udom Ekpoudom.