You don’t need court to cancel Anambra poll -APC

The All Progressives Congress has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of being “economical with the truth” by saying only the courts can order the cancellation of last Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State, in which about 1.3 million of the 1.7 million registered voters were unable to exercise their franchise.

In a statement in Lagos on Tuesday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party reminded INEC that it did not wait for a court order to cancel the National Assembly elections in 2011, when it was obvious that many voters across the country could not vote due to the late arrival or non-delivery of voting materials.

”In announcing the cancellation of the National Assembly election in 2011, INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega said, among others, that it was to ‘maintain the integrity of the elections and retain effective overall control of the process’,” it said.

APC said the situation in Anambra last Saturday was even more serious because, in addition to the fact that voting materials were either late or not delivered at all, most voters were disenfranchised by an INEC official, who apparently tampered with the 2011 Voters’ Register for the state.

”Therefore, there are more compelling reasons now to cancel the Anambra governorship election than what led to the cancellation and rescheduling of the National Assembly election in 2011, unless of course, INEC is still acting out the script handed to it for the ill-fated election,” the party said.