IMO: APC petitions INEC, demands REC’s sacking

The All Progressives Congress has petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission over the Imo State governorship supplementary election.

In the petition, dated April 20, 2015 and addressed to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, which was signed by the party’s national chairman, Chief John Oyegun, the party demanded the removal of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner and the entire election management team.


According to the party, the way the REC and his election management team handled the elections, which was declared inconclusive, leaves very much to be desired.

Oyegun explained that the APC “will find it difficult to participate in any election organised and supervised by the present Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner and his team as according to the party, by their actions, they have been compromised.”

The letter partly read, “Our position is based on the fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission in Imo State erroneously and perhaps, mischievously included areas where elections took place and results were collated‎, announced, declared and results sheets (Forms EC8A) issued to party agents including agents of the PDP who signed the results sheets (see attached),”

It urged INEC to remove the polling units where elections were held and results declared by the presiding officers and signed by the party agents‎.

The summary of the expected voters strength of all the units indicated are: Oru East, 30,404 voters; Isu, 6,086 voters; Mbaitoli, 10,072 voters, while Ezihite Mbaise has 1,329 registered voters, which brought the total registered voters in the areas affected to 47,891 registered voters.

APC added that since elections were held in these areas and they were certified by the presiding officers and acknowledged by all party agents, INEC does not have power to cancel the elections.

The party therefore urged INEC to exclude the listed areas from the proposed elections of April 25 and restrict itself to areas where elections did not take place, which has a total registered voters population of 98,447.

It said from the facts, it has become very necessary for it as a party to bring to INEC’s notice the manifest desperation of the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Imo State to pervert the electoral will of the people by continuously attempting to add new areas, where supplementary elections are to hold to justify his decision not to declare the APC candidate as the winner of April 11, governorship elections, declaring the process inconclusive.

APC also alleged that the Imo State INEC officials are complicit ‎in the alleged electoral malfeasance which took place in Mbaise area of the state.

“If not, how can one justify the acceptance of results of Ezihite Mbaise that was above the Permanent Voters Cards collections for the local government?” Oyegun said.

It said when its agent pointed this error out, the REC and the State Returning Officer, allegedly directed the local government Returning Officer, Mrs. Helen Ohanyerem, to go and review the figures downwards to accommodate the number of the PVCs distributed in the area and thereafter admitted the revised results.