The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission has stated that it recognises only the candidates submitted by the Chief Tony Okocha-led All Progressives Congress for the forthcoming August 30 local government elections.
RSIEC Commissioner for Administration and Legal Matters, Chidi Halliday, disclosed during a forum with members of civil society organisations in Port Harcourt.
Halliday was responding to questions regarding the submission of two separate APC candidate lists for the council elections, one from the Okocha-led faction and the other from the Chief Emeka Beke-led faction.
He explained that while the commission received both lists, the Beke-led submission was made outside the timeframe specified by the state electoral umpire.
“The list from the Chief Beke APC was received for record purposes only,” Halliday said, stressing that RSIEC monitored the primaries of the Okocha-led APC and would recognise only their candidates.
The commissioner added that RSIEC is not involved in internal party disputes or court cases and that it deals only with records provided by INEC, which officially registers political parties and their executives.
“To us, after the primaries are over, you cannot start submitting your list. All those we are dealing with are from the records we got from INEC,” Halliday said.
However, the Beke-led APC spokesman, Darlington Nwauju, insisted that their list was submitted to RSIEC in time and that the faction is legally recognised.
“Any attempt to publish names without the endorsement of our Chairman, Emeka Beke, and State Secretary, Sam Sam Etetegwung, as candidates of APC in Rivers State will attract the long arm of the law,” he warned.
This dispute traces back to a Rivers State High Court ruling last year, which reinstated the Emeka Beke-led executive loyal to former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi. The executive had previously been dissolved by the Abdullahi Ganduje-led APC National Working Committee for alleged anti-party activities.
Meanwhile, RSIEC Chairman Dr. Michael Odey assured that the commission is working around the clock to ensure free, fair, and credible elections on August 30.
He revealed that RSIEC had obtained the official voter register from INEC and plans to display it publicly soon.
“We have a signed letter from INEC issuing us the voter register. It is authentic, and the INEC Chairman has promised full support,” Odey said.
Source: Punch
