From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja and Mohammed Munirat Nasir, Gusau
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the final list of governorship and House of Assembly candidates with no inclusion of those of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers and Zamfara states.
The electoral umpire had, on Wednesday, said that it will not backtrack on its decision to exclude candidates of the APC from Zamfara, for the March 2 elections.
Defending the exclusion of Zamfara APC, National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, said the “Commission reviewed the situation concerning APC fielding candidates for governorship and Assembly elections in Zamfara and noted that there are two court judgements on the matter, one from a State High Court in Gusau, and the other from a Federal High Court, in Abuja.
“The Commission would like to reaffirm its commitment to obeying all court judgements. even when it disagrees with them. However, these are clearly two contradictory judgements delivered by two courts of coordinate jurisdiction on the same day.
“Consequently, the Commission has decided to maintain its original position that the party in question did not conduct primaries and therefore, in line with Section 87 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), is not eligible to field candidates for the National Assembly, Governorship and State Assembly elections in Zamfara State,” it noted.
As for Rivers, the Commission upheld the ruling of a Federal High court in Port Harcourt, which nullified the direct and indirect primaries conducted by the two factions of the APC, insisting that both primaries were not conducted according to the law. Meanwhile, Zamfara Governor, Alhaji Abdul’Aziz Yari Abubakar, has disclosed that INEC has received the APC list from the state, following last Friday’s court judgment which affirmed that the party held successful primaries in the state.
Yari disclosed this, yesterday, at the Government House in Gusau, the state capital, after the APC stakeholders meeting to assess the outcome of the court’s ruling.
He said party have complied with the court order and have called the candidates and gave them nomination forms and forwarded same as directed to INEC, and from information received the INEC has accepted the list.
Reacting to the final list from INEC, APC’s National Working Committee claimed that it was confirmation that the allegation from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), of connivance with INEC, was untrue.
The National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, wondered how INEC could reject its candidates in the two states and uphold the PDP candidate in Kano state without conduct of any primaries.
“The issue in Zamfara, we are aware INEC is relying on the decision of the court with coordinate jurisdiction having given conflicting judgement.
“We can understand that. What concern us is that it is not yet Uhuru.
“We are certain that we did the right thing.
The primaries held but INEC said they were not satisfied with that.
“It is our right to field candidates and we will follow all legal means to ensure that our candidates stand for the election in this 2019 general election. Same situation for Rivers.
“It behoves on people who are discerning to ask that question. This is APC that INEC is purported to have been working for and this is what we are going through in the hands of INEC that PDP has repeatedly claim is put in place to rig election for the APC.
“May I remind all of us that we have had primaries in Zamfara which was affected by conflict, but the process allows for three different options. You could go with indirect, which is an electoral college sort of. Second, you could go with direct that allows every card carrying members of the party to vote for their chosen candidates. Thirdly, consensus. We did do so.
“But, let me also add that in Kano state PDP did no primary whatsoever. They did not take any of this three options and yet today INEC is not saying anything regarding PDP. And all the candidates submitted for PDP in Kano were accepted. This is a fact that nobody can dispute. But, we will not go to town to start pillorying INEC.
“This is a very critical institution to the success of elections. We will continue to trust all institutions because we believed by having strong institutions that we can develop this country. We must support the institutions such that when they make mistakes rather than vilify them we will try to work with them by following due process to ensure the right thing is done,” APC noted.
“The INEC today Thursday received the list of APC candidates in Zamfara state and therefore we are now set to participate and win the elections in the state”, he said.
He said the acceptance of the Zamfara APC candidates list shows that the election umpire has respect for the rule of law.
The governor commended the party members for remaining steadfast despite the provocations from many quarters.
“No member of our great party the APC defected to another party in Zamfara state, this shows that we are very good and patriotic member of the APC and solidly behind President Muhammadu Buhari and ready to work for his reelection”, he said.
It will be recalled that following the crisis that surrounded the APC primaries in Zamfara state, INEC said the party will not field candidates which made the state APC to approach the state court on 8th October to order the list of it candidates.
The INEC also approached a federal high court in Abuja to solidify its stand.
