The All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed INEC over its 22-hour, no-movement order (from 12 midnight on Friday, Nov. 15th, to 10 pm on Saturday, Nov. 16th) for the Anambra State governorship poll, wondering why such an extended curfew should be imposed because of an isolated election.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said even during general elections, people are allowed to move around freely from 4 pm on election day.
”Election is not war, but a celebration of democracy. Declaring a 22-hour curfew for an election in only one state raises serious questions: What is INEC hiding? Is the curfew meant to give riggers enough time to write and collate their cooked-up results? Are elections and free movement of people incompatible? Why does INEC need a 22-hour curfew to conduct a ‘peaceful and successful’ election in one state? Where in the world is a 22-hour curfew imposed during an
election?
”In any case, Anambra does not have the kind of terrain or riverine communities that will justify waiting for hours for election results to be taken from polling units to the collation centre, hence there is no reason to turn Anambra into a ghost state just to hold a governorship election.
”We therefore call on INEC to reconsider this overstretched curfew if it has no underlying motive for declaring it in the first instance. After all, information at our disposal has it that some decent INEC officials have rejected being part of the Anambra election because they do not want to be tainted by the shenanigans of some of their unscrupulous colleagues who are colluding with do-or-die politicians for ‘thirty pieces of silver’,” it said.
APC said with the creation of 1,973 extra polling units by INEC, out of the original 4,608 units, the election should even be faster as it will take voters less time to complete the accreditation and voting process.
Meanwhile, the party has warned security agents against harassing and intimidating voters on Saturday, as they did during the infamous Delta Central Senatorial District bye-election last month.
”We have it on good authority that troops, police and State Security Service (SSS) personnel are being mobilized to Anambra from Abuja and neighbouring states ostensibly to provide security during the election. But we know that this is a ploy to actually scare voters away from the polling units and provide cover for ballot box hijackers and those adept at vote tampering.
”But we will like to remind our security agents that they are first and foremost Nigerians, hence they should always work in the larger interest of the country. They should not turn themselves to the armed wing of the PDP or APGA. They should allow voters to freely and peacefully cast their votes without harassment or intimidation on Saturday,” it said. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Na wa for this APC. Is like all the members and their leaders were carefully chosen! All has one thing in common - TROUBLESOME AND MILITANCY!
ReplyDeleteAPC or whatever u call yourself, please allow INEC do her job. I wonder why u are in such a hurry for an unsure mind reading. Jst be law abiding, believe urself, believe ur leader; over and above all, believe God and everything wl b well. NEVER! I SAY, NEVER PRACTICE POLITICS WITH BITTERNESS! It is well with Anambra and it wl continue to be well wt Anambra State
ReplyDeleteI think d states dat are not controled by PDP is doing very well knowing fully well dat they will lose d state if they don't perform. So I support APC to anambra so dat PDP will sit up and serve d people. Its becos PDP does not have strong opposition at d fedral level dat is why they can afford to present any human being as presidential canditate (both sick and dumb,one who does not knw wot to do) for me I don't kia which party is in power cos non of them have ideology, so naija political system is about d person. If d 36 states are controled on equal bases (18 for pdp and 18 for APC) den parties with fill in d best knwing dat its d mases that will chose who they want.
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