By Akombo Aondona, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has advised aspirants in all party primaries who have any complaints about how their party conducted the primaries to seek legal redress in court as the commission was not prepared to tamper with the list of successful candidates forwarded to it by the political parties except if ordered by the courts.
Chairman Information and Voters Education Committee at INEC, Barr Festus Okoye, issued this directive via a statement in Abuja following enquiries directed at the Commission over the matter, especially regarding the outcome of the Akwa Ibom North West and Yobe North senatorial districts primaries in which Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senate President Ahmed Lawan allegedly did not participate but want their names on the ballot..
Okoye’ statement reads:
“The attention of the Commission has been drawn to speculations circulating online on the outcome of some of the recent primaries conducted by political parties and related issues. In particular, allegations intended to impugn the integrity of the Commission have been made in respect of the Akwa Ibom North West and Yobe North Senatorial Districts.
“To set the record straight, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria mandates the Commission to monitor the organization and operation of political parties, including their finances, conventions, congresses and party primaries. In line with its constitutional and legal obligations, the Commission deployed monitors to the various constituencies and received reports of such exercise. In relation to the primaries for the Akwa Ibom North West and Yobe North Senatorial Districts, the Commission stands by the monitoring reports received from our State offices. For this reason, the Commission did not publish the personal particulars of any candidate for the two constituencies at variance with the State reports. Right now, the Commission is funtus officio in the two cases. Aggrieved parties are at liberty to approach the Federal High Court and seek redress as provided in section 285 of the Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and sections 29(5) and 84(14) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
“On the issuance of Certified True Copies (CTCs) of documents, staff of the Commission have been working hard, including weekends, to meet the deluge of requests received. As at Friday 8th July 2022, the Commission has processed 433 requests involving the certification of One million, Six Hundred and Sixty-Two Thousand, Seven Hundred and Seventy-Six (1,662,776) pages of documents. Many of them are awaiting collection at the INEC Headquarters by some of the same applicants complaining of delay in issuance of the CTCs.
“Section 29 (4) of the Electoral Act provides that any person may apply to the Commission for a copy of nomination form, affidavit, and any other document submitted by a candidate at an election and the Commission shall, upon payment of a prescribed fee, issue such person with a certified copy of document within 14 days. Persons applying for CTC of documents should endeavor to act timely and within the ambit of the law.
“The Commission will continue to uphold the integrity of the electoral process, including the deepening of the deployment of technology to enhance the credibility of elections.”
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