The faction also conducted the primary that declared Akpabio as the APC candidate for Akwa Ibom North-West.
The Nigeria Police Force Legal Department has recommended the prosecution of Stephen Ntokekpo, factional Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Akwa Ibom State.
This followed a petition filed against him by the chairman of the State Congress Committee of the party, Banki Sheriff, who accused him of forging his signature on what Ntokekpo had been parading as the result of the Congress, declaring himself as the winner.
The immediate Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, is backing Ntokekpo’s faction.
The faction also conducted the primary that declared Akpabio as the APC candidate for Akwa Ibom North-West.
Ten persons had contested for the office of the state chairman of the APC in Akwa Ibom on October 16, 2021, while 1,794 delegates voted in the congress.
Austin Ekanem who has the support of former national secretary of the APC, John Akpanudoedehe had the highest number of votes cast, 1,278, according to the INEC document, followed by Otu Toyo, with 190 votes.
Another candidate, Udeme Ekot, had 50 votes.
Ntukekpo who is being accused of forgery had six votes, even when he did not participate in the congress.
However, he approached a Federal High Court with a “summary result sheet” of the state congress, which showed him as the elected chairman of the party in Akwa Ibom.
Banki, who headed a seven-man committee that conducted the congress alerted the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), also known as the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Chairman of INEC that his signature was forged by Ntukekpo in the court document.
In the forged document, the suspect who had 006 votes changed it to 1006 while that of Ekanem was falsified to read 278 instead of 1,278 votes.
In a police report seen by SaharaReporters, Ntukekpo was recommended for prosecution by the police legal department.
Ekanem was also certified as the original chairman of the party in Akwa Ibom.
The report was from the legal prosecution section of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of the Nigeria Police Force.
The letter was dated July 4, 2022, signed by the Commissioner of Police, Legal/Prosecution Section, FCIID, Abuja, DCP Ochogwu Ogbeh W. A and addressed to the Deputy Inspector General of Police at FCID, Abuja with Yusuf Sheriff Banki as the complainant and Steven Leo Ntukepo as the suspect.
“It says the petitioner, in this case, Mr Yusuf Sherif Banki had in a letter dated 11 January 2022 addressed to the Inspector-General of Police stating that he was the Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) Congress Committee, Akwa Ibom State during the recently conducted Nationwide Congress of the APC.
“That in his capacity as the Chairman, he superintended over the Congress and submitted report with summary of result sheet to the APC National Secretariat. That couple of days ago, he was furnished with a court process by the legal Department of his party from the Federal High Court, Abuja between Stephen Leo Ntukepo (the suspect) and two others and APC and three others where his signature was forged on several documents purported to be the result of Akwa Ibom State Congress.
“The petitioner denied and claimed that the documents are fake and the signature contained therein are forged.
“The police commissioner noted that "having gone through the facts, statements of parties and documents attached therein, it was observed that all the seven-man committee gave statement to the police and they corroborated each other that election was held, vote counted in the presence of security agencies and delegates and R Augustine E. Ekeanem was announced and declared winner with 1,278 votes except Akeem Ayo Babalola whose statement differ from the six members of the Committee that there was no enough time to count the ballot papers one after the other as it was already late, that the chairman Hon. Yusuf Sheriff Banki just announced the prepared list he has ad winners of the Congress elected and that he did not sign the report as he was not happy with the report.
“It was further observed that Akeem Ayo Babalola in his statement to the police did not disclose who was announced or declared as the winner of the election. It was also observed that records received from both Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and All Progressives Congress Chairman of Uyo Akwa Ibom State.
“That Akeem Ayo Babalola who denied in his statement not to have signed the report as he was not happy with the report documents supplied by the APC to the police shows he signed the report.
“It is also observed that the suspect uttered (altered) a copy of All Progressives Congress summary result sheets which returned him as the winner of the election held in Akwa Ibom State purportedly signed by the complainant and used same in support of his claim in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1635/2021 before Federal High Court, Abuja wherein he is the first plaintiff.
“The advice from the police legal department said, "From the facts and available evidence in the case file, we are of the considered opinion that a prima face case of impersonation and forgery has been established against the suspect, Stephen Leo Ntukepo and therefore advise that the suspect be charged to court accordingly.
"This is respectfully forwarded for the Deputy Inspector-General of Police information and further directive, please.
"That the police extended investigation to the National Chairman of the APC and INEC to avail them with the certified true copy of the result sheet and documents showing the winner and the result sheet show that Augustine Ekeanem is the winner."
It noted that “From the facts and available evidence in the case file, we are of the considered opinion that a prima facie case of impersonation and forgery has been established against the suspect, Stephen Leo Ntukekpo and therefore advise that the suspect be charged to court accordingly.”