Edo/Ondo Polls: INEC refutes allegation of favouritism against RECs
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Tuesday, dismissed allegations levelled against its resident electoral commissioners and other officials by politicians as ”mere distractions.”
The INEC chairman,
Mahmood Yakubu, said this after the swearing-in of a new REC from Osun State,
Tella Rahman, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, according to a report
by PUNCH.
The chairman was
reacting to a statement credited to the Chairman of Edo State APC Media
Campaign Council, John Mayaki, accusing the Akwa Ibom State REC, Mike Igini, of
plotting to rig the governorship election in Edo in favour of the state’s
ruling PDP.
Mr Igini had in a
statement on Monday described the allegation as needless and malicious.
He said, ”Let me
state without any shadow of a doubt to those characters, who made this
atrocious allegation that I had meetings with political actors where
anti-democratic schemes were discussed, I have not met Gov. Obaseki since he
was sworn into office up until the moment of the press statement in
contention.”
In his reaction, Mr
Yakubu said such allegations were not new to the commission given the kind of
job it does especially during an election season.
Mr Yakubu promised
free, fair, and credible elections ahead of the Edo and Ondo states
governorship polls scheduled for September 19 and October 10 respectively.
He said, “Let me say
this that we stand by our resident electoral commissioners. You know the kind
of job we are doing; all manners of people come with all manners of accusations
to slander officials of the commission to divert our attention from the onerous
task of conducting elections in Nigeria.”
“We won’t be
distracted. We know all these shenanigans, people have been doing this to
distract us from doing what is right.
”My assurance to the
people of Edo and Ondo states and the people of the 14 constituencies where we
are going to conduct bye-elections on October 31 is that they should expect
from INEC free, fair, credible elections, professional conduct,” he said.
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