Warn INEC Against Holding Election Today
ALL the political parties participating in today’s National Assembly elections in Ekiti State yesterday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone them to April 26, arguing that they were uncomfortable with the staggered polls.
ALL the political parties participating in today’s National Assembly elections in Ekiti State yesterday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone them to April 26, arguing that they were uncomfortable with the staggered polls.
The INEC Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega had on Thursday announced that elections would not hold in the three senatorial districts in the state and some federal constituencies of the House of Representatives, citing the shortage of materials and non-printing of a political party’s logo on the ballot paper as the reason for the postponement.
Indeed, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Alhaji Hussaini Pai had earlier yesterday said election would hold in only six of the 16 local councils of the state for the House of Representatives. He said both sensitive and non-sensitive materials had been posted to those local governments.
But at a stakeholders meeting held yesterday evening at the police headquarters in Ado Ekiti, which had in attendance the state Police Commissioner, Sabo Ringim, other security chiefs, Pai and representatives of the eight political parties to participate in today’s election, the parties bluntly refused to accept the position of INEC to conduct staggered elections in Ekiti State.
A source at the meeting said with the refusal of the parties to participate in today’s election, the REC was said to have communicated the parties’ decision to Jega who said they should put their decision in writing and sign it.
The source said a letter was jointly written by the representatives of the political parties and signed immediately in the presence of the REC and security agents present at the meeting and it had since been forwarded to INEC office in Abuja.
Those who signed the letter included the chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state, Chief Jide Awe, and his PDP counterpart Chief Bola Olu-Ojo. Others were Tunji Ogunlola for ADC, Mr. Ashaolu Akinlola NRP, and Mr Francis Ibitoye of NCP.
The state REC Alhaji Pai said he could not say anything until he received a response of the letter he sent to INEC headquarters in Abuja about the decision of the political parties in the state not to hold election today but he affirmed the preparedness of the commission to hold election in the six local councils which, are Ise/Orun, Ekiti South West, Ekiti East, Ikere, Gbonyin and Emure.
But Awe and Bola Olu-Ojo who jointly addressed the reporters after the meeting said they were not expecting INEC to go ahead with the election since all the parties fielding candidates have agreed to hold it to April 26, when INEC would have all materials ready for the election. They also argued that since there would be no gubernatorial election in the state on April 26, it would not be too difficult for the electoral body to hold both the National and State Assembly elections.
They warned INEC against doing anything against the interest of the stakeholders because they had instructed voters not to come out today for any election.
According to Olu-Ojo, “We don’t want to cripple our candidates financially and that is why we say no to the conduct of this election. We don’t want them to spend money on election twice and that was why we signed the agreement.”
Awe said: “Since there is no governorship election in this state on April 26, we have decided to shift the poll till that date and that was our humble request from INEC.
“All the visible political parties in this state have signed so that there would be no breakdown of law and order in this state tomorrow due to influx of the people into the area. And I want to assure you that the commission will meet nobody on the field if it goes ahead tomorrow to conduct the election.”
Awe described the alliance among the political parties at this moment as “the spur of the moment, adding that whatever actions the INEC takes outside the agreement is a nullity.
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