BEVERLY HILLS, CA, November 23, (THEWILL) – The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reacted to Friday’s announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to hold supplementary election in Anambra State on Nov. 30,saying it won’t be a part of it.
APC in a statement issued in Lagos by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said “We will not be a party to what is obviously a travesty of election by a self-discredited and conniving electoral umpire.”
The party expressed absolute shock and incredulity that INEC could even talk of organising a supplementary election, despite the weight of credible evidence presented by the party as well as election monitors/observers that what transpired on Nov. 16 was nothing but a sham.
“This announcement has confirmed our worst fears that INEC is working in cahoots with the PDP and the presidency to ensure that no election ever counts in Nigeria. The INEC Chairman himself was the first to admit that a senior official of the commission compromised the election in one local government in Anambra. We on our own part were able to establish that materials meant for several local governments that were the strongholds of our candidate were diverted; that out of the about 1.7 million registered voters in Anambra, only a little over 400,000 were accredited to vote; and that the voters’ register was apparently tampered with to remove many names and disenfranchise thousands of voters. ”Yet, the same electoral body that admitted that the election was compromised has turned around to validate it by its decision to organise supplementary election instead of cancelling the parody of election and holding a fresh one. This is a sad day indeed,” APC said.
The party maintained that it is now obvious that Nigerians cannot count on INEC to organise a free, fair and credible election anywhere in the country, hence Nigerians must now take their fate in their own hands to ensure that the principle of one man, one vote is sacrosanct.
