The Independent National Electoral
Commission has stated its readiness to conclude the suspended Federal
and State Constituency re-run elections in Rivers in October.
This was contained in INEC’s daily bulletin issued on Monday in Abuja.
The bulletin quoted INEC National
Commissioner in charge of Electoral Operations, Hajiya Amina Zakari, as
expressing the Commission’s resolve when she addressed stakeholders in
Port Harcourt.
Zakari said that INEC needed the
cooperation of stakeholders, especially members of the political class,
to conclude the elections.
Zakari said INEC remained a non-partisan
body that was only interested in strengthening Nigeria’s democracy by
providing political parties and contestants a level playing field.
She said that the commission was worried
that some parts of Rivers State had no representation at the National
and State Assemblies.
Zakari said that it necessitated the
convening of the forum to discuss issues emanating from the conduct of
the May 19 re-run elections which were suspended as a result of
violence.
She said that the “cooling off” period
was allowed by the commission to restrategise on how to return to the
affected areas to conclude the elections.
The commissioner said that the March 19
re-run elections were suspended at various stages of post-collation,
pre-collation and during collation, due to the prevailing violence then.
She said that the elections could not be
concluded because of security reasons and the non-compliance of the
political class with the peace resolution signed by them on July 21.
Zakari said that in spite of the efforts
of mediators, the conditions earlier set as pre requisite for the
conduct of the elections by the Commission were not met in Rivers State.
She said that the elections in Imo and Kano States were conducted because they satisfied INEC’s conditions.
The bulletin also quoted, the INEC
National Commissioner supervising the South-South Zone, Dr Mohammed
Lecky, as saying that INEC “is ready to conclude the re-run elections
once the security situation improved”.
Lecky appealed to politicians to ensure that the atmosphere was conducive for the elections to be concluded.
It also quoted the Commissioner of
Police, Rivers State, Mr Francis Odesanya as informing all of the
readiness of the security agencies to provide a level playing field for
the re-run elections.
Odesanya also promised to ensure adequate security during the elections.
