The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has feigned
ignorance of the withdrawal of the All Progressives Congress, APC,
candidate, Dr. Chris Ngige, from the Anambra central senatorial election
re-run.
Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the commission, Dr. Lawrence Azubuike,
made the commission’s position known yesterday while meeting with
political parties and stakeholders in the state at the INEC headquarters
in Awka.
Ngige, who is now Minister of Labour and Employment, had
withdrawn from the race saying his ministerial appointment was of more
importance than the senatorial race re-run.
However, the state
secretary of the APC in Anambra state, Mr. Chukwuma Agupugo reminded
INEC of the letter to that effect by the Minister, which was submitted
by the party to the commission as required by the electoral act.
But
Azubuike maintained that he would go into the records of INEC to find
out the truth of the matter as he just resumed in the state.
According to him “we are not aware that anybody has withdrawn, we have
not received any statement to that effect, this election is a re-run not
a bye- election.
“What the electron means is essentially, going
back to March 28, 2015, INEC will use that same method in conducting the
election and we are going to await for further directive from the
commission’s headquarters in Abuja.”
“The political parties and
the candidates for the re-run election are not in doubt, only the
candidates and parties who participated in that election will
participate now, excluding the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) because
of the court judgment”, he said.
Fourteen parties took part in
the last National Assembly election on March 28, 2015 which means that
only 13 parties would take part in the re-run following the
disqualification of PDP.
But INEC was yet to decide whether APC
would be allowed to present a fresh candidate, if it is eventually
established that Ngige had declined to contest.
ABIA FACT NEWS
