By Nkechinyere Ewa
Hon. Iduma Enwo Igariwey has emerged the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Afikpo/Edda Federal Constituency seat in the 2027 general election after winning the party’s House of Representatives primary election held on Saturday.
Igariwey, who currently represents the constituency in the House of Representatives, was declared winner of the exercise by the APC primary election committee after polling 15,157 votes across the constituency.
Speaking with journalists after the exercise, the lawmaker dismissed reports circulating on social and conventional media alleging that he was disqualified from participating in the primaries.
He alleged that mischief makers smuggled the name “Idu Igariwe” into a document in a bid to create confusion and deceive members of the public.
“I feel great, I feel very happy for my victory at the House of Representatives primaries in 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,” he said.
Reacting to the disqualification rumours, Igariwey said: “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.”
The lawmaker, who is seeking a fourth term in the House of Representatives, further explained that the process of disqualifying any aspirant is clearly spelt out in the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Let me speak generally about 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 third term, going for my fourth term. I have also been in the constitutional review committee since 2015. So, I am quite conversant with the constitution and other instruments within 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 it 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.”
He added that issues such as age falsification, certificate irregularities or other constitutional infractions must be established before any disqualification can occur, stressing that fair hearing remains a fundamental requirement.
“This must be reasons why a party can disqualify anybody and before that is done, there must be 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.
Igariwey maintained that his performance and quality of representation over the years remained the major reason behind the support he enjoys from constituents.
“You will recall that what has stood out for Hon. Iduma Enwo Igariwey is the strength of my representation which has impacted tremendously on my constituency and for which majority of my constituency has been clamouring for,” said the lawmaker, who is the Vice Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation.
He commended Governor Francis Nwifuru for creating a conducive atmosphere for the conduct of the primaries and also praised the committee for conducting a successful exercise in the constituency.
Earlier, Chairman of the APC primary election panel for the constituency, Alphonsus Chinedu Nwali, announced that Igariwey scored 5,368 votes in Edda Local Government Area and 9,785 votes in Afikpo, bringing his total votes to 15,157 to emerge the party’s candidate for the 2027 House of Representatives election.