Professor Attahiru Jega,chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC has fixed Saturday, November 30th as the date for the supplementary gubernatorial election in Anambra state.Jega said though the commission regrets the lapses witnessed,it was convinced that the supplementary poll was the best way forward.
He also surprisingly added that there was no evidence to prove the allegations by those calling for the outright cancellation of the Anambra gubernatorial poll
Jega’s position has come as a rude shock to all opposition parties in the state.Tony Nwoye, candidate of PDP ,as well as Ifeanyi Ubah, the Labour Party candidate as well as Chris Ngige, the All Progressives Congress ,APC candidate have condemned INEC’s position.
In fact ,Nigeria’s main opposition party,the All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected Friday’s announcement by INEC to hold supplementary election in Anambra State on Nov. 30th.
“We will not be a party to what is obviously a travesty of election by a self-discredited and conniving electoral umpire,” the party said in a statement issued in Lagos on Friday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
It expressed absolute shock and incredulity that INEC could even talk of organizing a supplementary election, despite the weight of credible evidence presented by the party as well as election monitors/observers that what transpired on Nov. 16th 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 LGs 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 organize supplementary election instead of cancelling the parody of election and holding a fresh one. This is a sad day indeed,” APC said.
The party said it is now obvious that Nigerians cannot count on INEC to organize 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.
