News
INEC/IPAC Face-Off: Parties
Demand Authentic Election Results
Written by Chuks Ehirim, Abuja
The last has perhaps not been heard regarding the conduct of the
2011 general elections which the Independent National Electoral
Commission [INEC], has been celebrating as credible, free and
fair.
Various political parties which participated in the said
elections are now up in arms, questioning the genuineness of the
claim by the electoral body. The parties which operate under the
umbrella name of the Inter-Party Advisory Council[IPAC],
questioning the results of the elections in the South-East,
South-South, as well as the such states in the North as Kaduna,
Kano, Katsina, Bauchi,Plateau, Benue, Niger, Adamawa, etc.
T he parties are insisting that results made public by INEC in
these states after the elections,did not reflect the true voting
partern of Nigerian people. Speaking to National Accord on this
issue, Chairman of IPAC, Chief Emma Osita Okereke, said the body
has asked INEC to out with its report on the election, a demand
that has not been heeded. He threatened that IPAC will in a
matter of days; make public its own report on the said
elections.
''We demanded for the report of the elections in the
South-East, South-South, Kaduna,Kano, Katsina,Bauchi,
Plateau,Niger, Benue,Adamawa, etc.''We told them that we are
going to produce our own report. It is being printed in South
Africa.It is a 250 page report which we are going to make public
very soon'', Okereke said.
It was reported last week that IPAC had a face off with INEC
during a retreat at Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
While the electoral body posited that the parties demanded for
payment of some allowances and when they could not get it, they
backed out of the retreat, Okereke argued that INEC lied.
According to him, ''the people are creating problems for
themselves. We never asked them for money, besides; they are
not the people paying for the retreat. INEC is stupid; Jega is
going around the world, telling people that he conducted a free
and fair election. They wanted to people unknowingly. When I
entered the venue of the retreated and saw only one TV camera to
INEC, there were no media organizations represented there.''
He added that ''they wanted us to come and sign a document
showing that they conducted a free and fair election. That was
what they intended doing. Again, l do not see any reason why
INEC should be allowing only foreign organizations to be putting
together retreats. It is either IFEX or IRI. These organizations
are not supposed to be mediating between INEC and political
parties''.
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