INEC Slams Gov Fubara Over Accusation Of Partisanship

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has condemned the allegation of partiality from Governor Siminalaya Fubara of Rivers State.

Naijaonpoint reported that Governor Fubara speaking at the sixth annual Freedom Online lecture, themed ‘Nigeria’s Socio-Political Challenges: Whose Fault, the Leaders or the Led?’, accused the electoral body of being selective in implementing court rulings on defections of lawmakers.

The Rivers State Governor stated that when institutions, like INEC, fail to do the needful, democracy suffers.

“However, INEC has been selective in enforcing this rule, raising questions about its neutrality. When institutions fail to do the needful, the rule of law is weakened, and democracy suffers,” he said.

In a statement, on Friday, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said the Commission’s neutrality in political crisis in Rivers remained unquestionable.

Professor Yakubu’s spokesman explained that the case involving defected lawmakers in Rivers State House of Assembly was in court, and the Commission was bound to obey court processes.

“Our attention has been drawn to a statement credited to the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, in which the Commission was accused of selective implementation of elections to fill vacancies arising from the defection of serving members of the National and State Assembly from one political party to another.

“While no specific instances of the alleged selective action were presented, the statement specifically accused the Commission of deliberate failure to fill the vacancies resulting from the protracted crisis in the Rivers State House of Assembly where two factions are jostling for control. In the midst of the crisis, three or so lawmakers have declared the seats of 27 members vacant and vice versa.

“While the Commission is aware of the situation in the Rivers State House of Assembly, the matter is pending in court and, therefore, subjudice.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission has been joined in several suits filed by litigants at various courts, including the Supreme Court.

“Under the circumstances, the Commission must await the final judicial pronouncement on the matter before it embarks on a puerile exercise that may eventually amount to a nullity and a waste of public funds,” it read.

INEC urged political office holders to be circumspect in public statements to avoid misleading the public and putting the Commission in a bad light.

“We urge people occupying high public offices to be circumspect in their public statements before they mislead the public and cast aspersion on public institutions, particularly where they are aware of the pendancy of cases in court,” it added.