The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected the announcement by INEC
that it will hold a supplementary election after declaring last Saturday’s
governorship poll in Anambra inconclusive, insisting that only the total
cancellation of the election will be acceptable.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its Interim National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also called on INEC to come
clear on how the election was sabotaged.
APC accused INEC of not taking seriously the opinions of Anambra residents
as well as local and foreign observers that most of the registered voters
in the state were disenfranchised during the election.
”First, the electoral commission proposed make-up election in only 65
polling units in Obosi before scaling things up to a supplementary
election ‘in those areas where election was cancelled’. But we say,
without equivocating, that a total cancellation of the election and the
organization of a fresh poll, under the supervision of a credible Resident
Electoral Commissioner, will be acceptable to our party,” it said.
”It is not enough for INEC’s Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to tell the
nation that an INEC official sabotaged the election in a certain part of
the state, he must tell the nation who this fellow is, who he/she is
working for, what is the extent of the damage he/she has done to this and
previous elections, and whether or not he/she has access to the
commission’s database of voters’ register, which was apparently tampered
with for Saturday’s election.
”Prof. Jega must also tell Nigerians why 16 Electoral Commissioners, who
migrated to Anambra days before the election ostensibly to supervise
things, could not ensure the success of an election in a single state,
when even a polling unit behind the INEC office in Awka did not get voting
materials till after 9 am on election day,” it said.
Meanwhile, the APC has accused the PDP of being an accessory to the
election anormaly in Anambra, going by the statement credited to the party
that the election was free and fair.