The member representing the Afikpo/Edda Federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Iduma Igariwey, has denied reports of his disqualification from the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 race in the constituency.
Social and conventional media platforms were flooded with news of his disqualification from contesting the party primaries on the eve of the exercise on Saturday.
But Igariwey, who was declared the winner of the primaries by the House of Representatives committee for the constituency, told journalists that nobody disqualified him from the party.
He alleged that mischief makers smuggled “Idu Igariwe”, which he said is not his official name, into a document to cause confusion and deceive the gullible public.
“I feel great; I feel very happy for my victory at the House of Representatives primaries in the Afikpo/Edda Federal constituency.
“It is a demonstration of where my constituency has placed me over the past years of my representation. It was quite resounding, and I am so grateful and very happy.”
“God forbid bad thing! Nobody disqualified me. I saw a document that doesn’t bear my name, and if you look at that document, you will see that it is Iduma Igariwey Enwo that is there, which is my official name.
“So, whatever that is being circulated is completely strange to me; it is unknown to me.
“Let me speak generally about the disqualification of a candidate. I am a lawmaker, a consummate lawmaker for that matter.”
“I have been in the National Assembly, and this is my 3rd term; I am going for my 4th term. I have also been in the constitutional review committee since 2015. So, I am quite conversant with the constitution and other instruments, with the electoral act.”
“We were carefully making sure that those who aspire to represent this country in any capacity are not just ambushed, and that is why we created section 85 of the electoral act.”
“Take your time; look at the electoral act. You will find out that to disqualify an aspirant or a prospective candidate, you must do so within the requirements as contained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“So, you don’t just wake up and say you have disqualified anybody; that’s not the way it is expected to happen under any political party, and not just this great party called the APC.
“It must be maybe my certificates are not correct, my age is not up to the required age, or that I belong to a secret society, or that, that, that!!! They are all stated in the Constitution, and it is clear.
“This must be the reason why a party can disqualify anybody, and before that is done, there must be a fair hearing, an inevitable aspect to it. So, you don’t just see a document or purport to mean that you have been disqualified, no.
“I was speaking generally, but in this case, what is said to have been seen is not me. I think they wrote Idu Igariwe. It is not my real spelling of Igariwey; I don’t answer Idu. I am Iduma Enwo Igariwey, and that’s my name.”
“Maybe somebody tried to smuggle in something that shouldn’t be there in the first place,” he stated.
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Igariwey, who is contesting for a 4th term in the constituency, said the constituents should expect stronger representation when he is re-elected.
“You will recall that what has stood out for Hon. Iduma Enwo Igariwey is the strength of my representation, which has tremendously impacted my constituency and for which the majority of my constituency has been clamouring,” Igariwey, who is Vice Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, said.
The lawmaker commended Governor Francis Nwifuru for his love for the constituency and for creating a conducive atmosphere for the primaries.
He also commended the committee for the primaries for conducting successful primaries in the constituency.
Igariwey scored 5,368 votes in Edda and 9,785 votes in Afikpo, totalling 15,157 votes in the constituency, to emerge as the candidate of the party for the federal constituency 2027 election.
Reacting to reports of disqualification, Governor Francis Nwifuru said he had not been officially informed of such a development.
He also dismissed reports of parallel congresses, insisting that the party remained united throughout the process.
“We have only one congress committee. What is normal in a democracy is for people to come out and test their popularity. There is no need for any parallel congress, and nobody is going to conduct one.”
The governor maintained that the APC in Ebonyi State remains strong and united despite ongoing political realignments ahead of future elections.
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