Thursday, March 28, 2024

2023 NASS ELECTIONS INEC insists Lawan, Akpabio not yet candidates

Says cases still in court

It is not yet uhuru for Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio as the Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday emphatically denied recognising them as senatorial candidates for Yobe North and Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial Districts respectively in the race for the 2023 National Assembly elections.

The Commission stated that it rejected their nomination due to the controversial circumstances surrounding the primary elections that purportedly produced them as flag bearers of the ruling All Progressives Congress for their different senatorial zones’ candidates

The electoral body made this known on Tuesday while reacting to an online publication which alleged that the Commission doctored and backdated documents to accommodate Lawan and Akpabio’s nominations.

In a statement signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, the electoral umpire, stated that “For clarity, the Form EC9 (submission of names of candidates by political parties) is the Form uploaded by parties on the INEC nomination portal. This is clearly indicated on the title of the Form which was received on 17th June 2022 when the portal closed.

“What follows is the publication of the personal particulars of nominated candidates which was done a week later. The Forms of the two personalities in question were not published by the Commission.

“The decision of the Commission triggered legal action which is still ongoing. It, therefore, defies logic and common sense to go around and submit doctored documents purportedly recognising the duo as candidates when the matter is clearly sub-judice.

“As part of the ongoing case in Court, a law firm requested the Commission for a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Form EC9 submitted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as its candidate for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District which we are duty bound to oblige them under the law.

“The Form was certified on 15th July 2022. If minimum care had been exercised by the promoters of the story, they would have seen the two stamps of the Commission bearing different dates on the Form. It is this Form that is now misconstrued as INEC’s endorsement.

“For the record, the Commission has not recognized any of the two personalities as a Senatorial candidate.

“We call for responsible reportage as against the unwarranted attack on the Commission and its officials over a matter that can be easily fact checked.”

Lawan and Akpabio were presidential aspirants in the APC primary election that eventually produced Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in June. Having failed to secure the sole presidential ticket of the party, they hurriedly beat a retreat and threw in everything within their disposal to emerge as the senatorial candidates for the party.

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