The All Progressives Congress
(APC) has kicked against the decision of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) on the Bauchi state governorship.
INEC had initially listed Bauchi
among the six states where supplementary elections will hold but on Saturday
the commission struck out Bauchi from the list, saying it did so after its
fact-finding committee realised that eelction had been concluded in the state
and there were copies of results.
Festus Okoye, INEC’s national
commissioner for information and voter education, chaired the committee.
However, in a statement on
Sunday, Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC spokesman, said it was inappropriate for Okoye to
chair the committee because of his “close relationship” with Yakubu Dogara,
speaker of the house of representatives.
Dogara, who is from the state,
has repeatedly accused INEC of working against the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP).
But Issa-Onilu said the committee
chaired by Okoye was biased.
“We reject INEC’s decision on the
governorship election results from Tafawa Balewa local government area in
Bauchi state, as signed and announced by the electoral body’s national
commissioner and chairman of its information and voter education committee,
Festus Okoye,” the statement read.
“While the close relationship
between Festus Okoye who chaired the fact-finding committee and Yakubu Dogara
of the PDP is well known, hence inappropriate for the fact-finding exercise for
Bauchi state, INEC has failed to adhere to the fundamental principle of
fair-hearing by not inviting our agents during the hearing to ascertain the
circumstances leading to the cancellation of the Tafawa Balewa local government
election result.
“INEC’s decision is illegal as
the electoral body and contravenes the provisions of the electoral act 2010 as
amended.”
Efforts to get Okoye’s reaction
to APC’s assertion were not successful.
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