There
is no reprieve for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State
as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted
that it has not reversed its decision that the party has no candidates
in the impending general election in the state.
INEC’s
declaration coincided with another decision Wednesday by the same Court
of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt granting stay of execution on the
judgment of the Federal High Court barring the commission from listing
candidates of the APC in the state on the ballot in the coming general
election.
This came as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has
appealed to INEC for extension of time by three days for collection of
Permanent Voters Card (PVCs).
The Court of Appeal sitting in Port
Harcourt had on Monday ordered a stay of execution of the Federal High
Court’s ruling, which barred the APC from fielding candidates in the
forthcoming general election in Rivers State.
Following the
appeal filed by the APC in the state for stay of execution of the
judgment of the Federal High Court delivered by Justice Kolawole
Omotosho, the appeal court granted one of its prayers: stay of execution
of the judgment.
In his ruling, Justice Mohammed Mustapha stated
that all parties affected by Justice Omotosho’s judgment have appealed
it, saying it would be unjust not to grant the application to stay
execution of the ruling.
However, addressing journalists at an
interactive session yesterday in Abuja, the INEC National Commissioner
in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Festus Okoye, said the
electoral body had taken decisions on Rivers State APC.
According
to him, “What the commission has done is that it has taken a position
in relation to the issue of Rivers. If anything changes we will meet as a
commission and also take a decision.
‘’But we have taken a
decision relating to the issue of Rivers and if anything changes before
we take our final decision, the commission will meet and also take a
decision; but we have not taken any other decision and we have not
repealed our position on the issue of Rivers.”
While commenting
on the INEC office that was burnt in Abia State, Okoye said the
commission expected Nigerians to be more outraged with what happened in
the state.
He stressed that the commission would not be
intimidated with the kind of “heartless act’’ rather it would be
motivated to do what is right.
Also, the commission said that
while it had signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with transport
unions for the movement of electoral materials on Election Day, it would
not enter into agreement with any transport unions with leadership
crisis.
The commission added that simultaneous accreditation and
voting adopted by the commission and kicked against by opposition
political parties, was meant for the Nigerian people, saying that they
are happy about it.
He noted that with 73 political parties on
the ballot, it was inoperative that the continuous accreditation and
voting is adopted.
Okoye also revealed that different zonal
stores, states and local government offices of the commission are
presently taking deliveryº of non-sensitive materials for the conduct of
the elections, while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is taking
delivery of sensitive materials.
Appeal Court Grants Second Stay of Execution against Delisting Rivers APC Candidates from Ele-ctions
However,
the same Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt Wednesday granted
another order of stay of execution on the judgment of the Federal High
Court barring INEC from listing candidates of the APC in Rivers State on
the ballot in the coming general election.
The stay of execution this time was given in the case between the PDP and APC.
The
three-man panel Appeal Court led by Justice Ali Gumel said the decision
yesterday was informed by urgency of the matter, just as it rejected
the application by Ferdinand Obi (SAN), counsel to the PDP, asking the
judges to recuse themselves from the matter.
The court insisted
it would continue to hear the case since the President of the Court of
Appeal was yet to respond to same request on discontinuity in a letter
written by the PDP on the matter.
The Appeal Court however
granted the desire of the PDP counsel to withdraw from the matter on
grounds that further participation in the case would be of no benefit to
his client.
The court fixed February 13 to hear pending motions
on the matter after hearing applications in three appeals arising from
the matter for which the PDP went to court asking that APC should not
present candidates in the coming elections.
The court also
adjourned to today (Thursday) for ruling on the application brought by
the All Progressives Grand Alliance to be joined in the case between
Tonye Cole and Senator Magnus Abe.
Reacting to yesterday’s ruling, the Cole/Giadom Campaign Organisation of the APC described it as a victory for democracy.
A
statement issued by the spokesman of the organisation, Ogbonna Nwuke,
quoted the APC flag bearer, Pastor Tonye Cole, as saying that although
the wheels of justice grind slowly, it grants reprieve to all who come
to equity with clean hands.
He said that the outcome of the
decisions so far issued by the court has proved that that the cases
filed by the APC against the previous rulings of the lower courts were
indeed competent.
“We are pleased that a sense of justice has
prevailed in righting a clear injustice designed at depriving an
electorate of the freedom to choose whoever they desire to lead them,”
Cole pointed out.
PDP Urges INEC to Extend Time for PVCs Collection
Kola Ologbondiyan
Meanwhile, the main opposition party, the PDP, has urged the leadership of INEC to extend the collection of PVCs by three days.
In
a statement Wednesday by the National Publicity Secretary of the party,
Mr., the main opposition party said information available at his
disposal showed that the ruling APC had planned to use the uncollected
PVCs to allocate votes to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The party
said the demand of three days extension was predicated on reports across
the country that some compromised INEC officials at the collection
centres are deliberately refusing to issue the PVCs to voters thereby
frustrating millions of registered voters from getting their voters
cards.
According to him, “The PDP believes that this deliberate
refusal to release the PVCs is part of the wider plot by the APC to
disenfranchise millions of Nigerians and frustrate their eagerness to
vote out President Buhari at the February 16 presidential election and
elect the peoples candidate, Atiku Abubakar.”
The party,
therefore, demanded explanation from INEC for turning back registered
voters who went to collect their PVCs and directed them to come at a
later date for an exercise that is programmed to end on Friday.
It
also called on the leadership of INEC not to plunge the election into a
needless controversy but to redeem itself by extending the closing date
for the collection of PVCs by three days.
