The former Resident Electoral Commissioner of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Elder Aniedi Ikoiwak has urged Akwa Ibom people to leave unnecessary political sentiment that can heat up the polity and wait for the submission of names of candidates by political parties to INEC, the display of those names and their particulars by the electoral body as scheduled.
Ikowak, a two term INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner gave the advice on Wednesday June 15 while on a telephone interview with our correspondent. He said the national electoral body has no constitutional power to reject and cannot not disqualify candidates of political parties.
He urged INEC officials in Akwa Ibom State to control their utterances and be neutral as their assertions can indict the Commission if their stands at the state level are reversed by the national electoral body in Abuja, noting that Nigerians are likely to believe that the Commission were bribed for not aligning with the positions of the state officials.
“INEC cannot reject or disqualify candidates of political parties forwarded to her by political parties even if INEC knows that a particular candidate is insane. What can be done at such circumstance is for candidates and political parties that contested the same election with the alleged insane person to approach the court and ask for the disqualification of the person”.
On the recent outburst by Mr. Mike Igini, Akwa Ibom State INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner that a certain political party in the state cannot field candidates in 2023 elections, the former INEC chief opined that if the said political party informed the electoral body of their primaries dates, times and venue, that such political party has fulfilled what is required from her by the electoral act.
“I am surprise to hear an official of INEC speaks about candidates of political parties when the names have not yet been submitted to INEC by the parties.
“17th of June is the dateline for presidential, senatorial and federal constituencies.
“15 of July is the dateline for Governorship and Houses of Assembly candidates. This is when INEC will have idea on what is submitted by each of the parties. Even with this position, INEC cannot reject any candidate forwarded to it by the parties, except on a pronouncement of a court of competent jurisdiction”, he said.
“Zamfara and Rivers states candidates of APC were not disqualified by INEC. INEC has no such powers. Courts of competent jurisdictions disqualified them because of issues in their congresses and those cases were not instituted by INEC”, Elder Ikoiwak said.
