The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has ruled out prospects of substituting Accord party candidates with those of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State saying it was against the timeline and framework for the 2019 elections.
The warning is coming at a time the Rivers State government in a statement has cautioned the election management body against contemplating any such move.
The assurance and warning came against the background of speculations in Rivers State that Accord Party was soon to become a platform for candidates of the APC, who have lately been entangled by judicial decisions which annulled candidates filed by the Rivers State chapter of the party.
The timeline for the substitution of candidates for elections closed on December 2, 2018.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education, Barrister Festus Okoye, who dismissed the claim as false said he was unaware of any such request for the substitution of candidates from Accord or any other party in Rivers State.
He said, “I am not sure that any request for substitution of candidate has come to INEC. Our window for substitution has closed. We are a law-abiding institution, we will not flout the law regarding that. We can only allow substitution in the case of death of a candidate,” Okoye said as he vowed that INEC would not twist the law to favour any political party.
Similarly, the Rivers State government urged the commission not to take any action that would compromise the confidence that the electorate has in it.
The state commissioner for Information, Barrister Emma Okah, affirmed that the substitution of a candidate of any party after the window has elapsed could be an abuse of the electoral law.
He said the rumour cannot be easily dismissed because there can be “no smoke without fire.”
“The integrity and impartiality of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, would be seriously called to question if this is allowed to happen,” he said.
