APC gives ultimatum to INEC on document needed for electoral tribunal

The Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) has given INEC headquarters a 72-hour ultimatum to direct its Rivers State office to release the documents necessary for the party to file a petition. complaint to the Electoral Petitions Tribunal.

INEC had announced the People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidates winning all three Senate seats and nine of the state's 12 House of Representatives seats in the elections.

The APC and Labor Party candidates each won a seat in the House of Representatives while the Port Harcourt Federal Constituency 2 result was suspended, this newspaper reported earlier.

But the APC, which disputes the outcome of the February 25 National Assembly elections in the state, said its candidates won the election and that their "mandate was stolen".

The party threatened to blockade the INEC office in Port Harcourt, if its request was not granted when the ultimatum expired.

APC state spokesman Darlington Nwauju issued the threat in a statement in Port Harcourt on Friday.

Mr. Nwauju accused the INEC operations chief in Rivers state, Mike Odeh, of colluding with the state's People's Democratic Party (PDP) to thwart APC's efforts to obtain the documents. necessary to facilitate his case before the court.

“Can we put on record that the Rivers State CPA requested Certified True Copies (CTCs) of Forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C and other ancillary documents in the National Assembly elections recently organized in the state in which the results were mangled and/or fabricated in favor of the PDP in areas where our party clearly won and where our candidates should have been declared the winners had INEC fulfilled its promise to upload the results polling stations on the iREV portal.

"Instructively, the said Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Odeh, against both Civil Service Rules, INEC Guidelines and the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 (as amended) consciously and viciously erected a wall to ensure that he thwarts the moves of the APC in Rivers State to recover the stolen mandates of our candidates for the National Assembly by refusing to release the relevant documents previously listed, which are at the heart of pursuing our petitions in the Electoral Petitions Tribunal, knowing only too well that electoral petitions are sue generis or time-limited,” Mr. Nwauju said.

Mr. Nwauju said the party had lost confidence in Mr. Odeh, adding that he had refused to release any documents to him despite the approval given to the party to access said documents by the state's resident electoral commissioner and the officer. administrative of the state commission. .

"The APC in Rivers State has lost faith in the Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mike Odeh and demands his immediate investigation and prosecution for single handedly uprooting INEC's independence status" , Mr. Nwauju said.

PDP spokesperson in the state, Sydney Gbara, did not return a call or text message for comment when contacted.

PREMIUM TIMES was unable to reach Mr. Odeh, COO of the Rivers INEC office for comment at the time of filing this report.

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