INEC, Labour Party bicker over access to CTCs of Imo governorship election
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has continued to delay access to its Certified True Copies (CTCs) of documents used for the November 11 governorship poll in Imo state, according to the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Athab Achonu.
The party, in a statement, issued by the Director, Media and Publicity of the Athan Achonu Campaign Organisation, Mr Chibuikem Diala, Saturday, further urged the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to prevail on the commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Imo, Prof. Sylvia Agu, to release the documents, as, according to the party, ‘time is of essence.’
This is also as INEC has described the Labour Party’s as allegation coming too early.
It would be recalled that INEC had last Sunday, declared the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and incumbent governor, Hope Uzodimma, as winner and re-elected in the last Saturday, November 11 election amid calls for the cancellation of the exercise from opposition parties, election observers and rights groups over ‘glaring’ electoral malpractices.
Meanwhile, the statement by the Labour Party disclosed that the official request already made by the party’s solicitors to INEC for the CTCs was duly acknowledged and received on November 15, as it wondered why the release of the documents had been delayed.
“INEC was as so efficient to announce the results of 27 LGAs of Imo in less that 12 hours after the election, one wonders why the commission is taking over 144 hours to release the documents backing their pronouncements.
“One would expect a better and efficient approach from the electoral body.
“We sincerely hope that this delay is not a decoy by INEC in Imo and agents of the APC led-government to tamper with sensitive materials in INEC’s possession,“ Diala stated, as he called on security agencies to remain vigilant and do all they could to ensure that the CTCs were released as requested and in good time.
He thanked LP supporters for their unalloyed steadfastness and assured them of the commitment of the party’s candidate, Sen. Athan Achonu, towards retrieving the mandate through due process.
Responding to the allegation, however, INEC’s Head of Voter Education in Imo, Mrs Emmanuella Ben-Opara, said ‘the Labour Party, just like other political parties, is entitled to copies of the documents,’ adding that ‘the documents would be released within the stipulated timeframe.’
