By Ngozi Ekhator
All Progressives Congress (APC) Alliance Network for Democracy, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, of interfering with the internal affairs of it’s party against the independent status of the commission.
The group said, the insistence of the commission that the Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni remains the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the party is like a referee whose duty is to officiate a football match dabbling into the internal matters of a football team by insisting that a particular person should be made the coach of the team instead of cooperating with whoever the team presents as it’s coach for the match.
In a statement released to newsmen in Abuja by the Director-General of the alliance, Joe Ozurumba, the group accused INEC of working hand in gloves with the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, saying the commission was silent when Uche Secondus was removed and another person was appointed to preside over the party’s convention last year; questioning why should the commission be changing it’s goal post at will?
It noted that INEC should be independent as the law establishing it requires and not to be displaying characters that gives credence to insinuations in some quarters that INEC has become PDP’s INEC instead of serving the interest of Nigerians.
Accordingly, we wish to remind the commission that the Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello was not appointed outside the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee but has been a member of the body.
That his new status does not in anyway make him the substantive chairman of party but an acting chairman until a substantive national chairman is elected during the upcoming convention.
That his new position does not affect any correspondence the committee might have entered in to with the commission as that is still part and parcel of the committees mandate.
That his nomination enjoys the endorsement of critical stakeholders of the party; including the leader of the party, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari.
That Governor Bello’s mandate is to conduct the national convention of the party which the former Caretaker Chairman never wanted to conduct.
Since the same Caretaker Committee is still in place, INEC ought to have known that all correspondences between it and the caretaker committee remains valid.
Therefore, we urge the commission to be truly independent and neutral instead of acting like a bull in a China shop.
