Anambra Central: APC, APGA, PDP express diverse views on scheduled election

 

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu
The major political parties contesting for the Anambra Central Senatorial seat have expressed mixed feelings towards the announcement of a date for the re-run election amidst controversial court judgements.
The election has been delayed by legal battles since the Court of Appeal sacked Uche Ekwunife of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, as winner of the seat on December 7, 2015.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has fixed January 13 for the conduct of the re-run election to fill the vacant seat.
INEC’s decision followed a judgement by the Appeal Court which on November 21, 2017 ordered the commission to conduct a re-run election within 90 days.
Three weeks later, another judgement emerged from the Federal High Court ordering INEC to issue the Certificate of Return to Obiora Okonkwo of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the validly elected senator for the district. Mr. Okonkwo had contested the PDP ticket with Ms. Ekwunife
INEC has not publicly announced if it would abide by the High Court judgement but the commission on January 4 commenced training of National Youth Service Corps members to serve as polling officials for the controversial rerun election. The move raised insinuations that INEC was going ahead with election.
The commission’s Head of Publicity in Anambra State, Leo Nkife, said the training exercise was an internal preparation by the commission and not in disobedience of any court order.
“INEC is still studying the two judgement from the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court Abuja,” he told PREMIUM TIMES in Awka on Thursday.
“We are a law-abiding agency and we are optimistic that with the resumption of work next week, the court will resolve every outstanding issue. What we are doing is an internal thing and every other thing after now is subject to the interpretation of the ruling by the two courts,” he said. Some of the major political parties who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES expressed worry at INEC’s decision to go ahead with the election.
INEC must abide by High Court judgement – PDP
Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, Kola Ologbondiyan, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said the party had written INEC to demand enforcement of the High Court order.
“The party has written INEC requesting that the certificate of return be issued to our candidate in line with the decision of the court. That is the position of PDP for now.”

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