By Sunday Bassey
#TrackNigeria: The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mr Patrick Ifon, the House of Representatives candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the Eket Federal Constituency election held on Saturday.
Announcing the results, the Returning Officer, Prof. Bassey Antia of the University of Uyo, said that Patrick Ifon polled 61, 580 votes to defeat his closest rival Akpabio Kufre of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 11, 263 votes.
The results were announced at Eket Senatorial District Collation Centre on Monday.
Addressing his supporters, Ifon, the Eket federal constituency member elect, thanked the constituents for being steadfast in their quest to ensure the people’s will prevailed.
“This is a collective victory in the face of threatening assertions by the opposition.
“It is a victory attributed to God, the people and a proof that Akwa Ibom is PDP, ” he said.
He commended INEC for the peaceful process but decried the malfunctioning of the card readers that disenfranchised a lot of eligible voters from voting.
“I commend INEC for the peaceful process but I urge them to do better during the Governorship and State Assembly elections,“ he said.
Ifon promised his constituents a better representation, saying since the victory was a collective one, the representation would as well be collective.
He further charged the electorate not to be deterred in replicating the same love shown to him to the Governor and all State Assembly candidates of the PDP on March 9.
Eket Federal Constituency is made up of Eket, Esit Eket, Onna and Ibeno. (NAN)