The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has once again
confirmed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will not participate
in elections in Rivers State.
INEC Commissioner, Festus Okoye, said the commission is acting based on a court ruling.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission acts on the basis of
existing facts. The facts on the ground as of today is that the Federal
High Court Porthacourt Judicial division, delivered two judgements and
said that the APC will not participate in the elections and that the
logo of the APC or any of the candidates of the APC will not appear on
the ballot papers on election day and INEC has fully complied with this
particular directive,” he said during an interview on Channels
Television’s Sunday Politics.
Okoye also stated that in cases where there are disputes, the
commission has abided with court rulings and will only change its
position if there is a contrary ruling from a higher court. Furthermore,
he stated that it has no plans to postpone elections in any part of the
country, contrary to claims in some quarters.
“If anything arises as we proceed towards the 2019 elections, we will
deal with that particular eventuality. But as at today, the reality is
that the APC will not participate in the elections, the elections will
go on and it won’t be postponed.The PDP forwarded the name of a candidate to the Independent National
Electoral Commission as the candidate of the political party. INEC
accepted the name of that candidate. During the period of substitution,
the candidate was not substituted, therefore, the candidate’s name will
appear on the ballot on election day.The only basis for the removal of any candidate from the list as at
today is death. We have released the final list for presidential and
National Assembly elections and there wouldn’t be any change anymore”.