The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State has stated it will not participate in upcoming Local Government election slated for October 5, 2024.
This is as members of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the State loyal to the party’s Caretaker Committee Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha, have distanced themselves from the proposed election. The members said, they will not participate in the October 5 electoral exercise due to some procedural flaws.
This was contained in a statement by Okocha at an enlarged stakeholders meeting in Port Harcourt on Wednesday. He stated that the decision to boycott the election was because the process of conducting the election is not in tandem with any known law.
Okocha said that his party the APC has already gone to court to stop all the processes of conducting the election. This, he said, is because proposed election does not follow all the due processes of law.
He said, “The topical issue we have to discuss is the issue of APC contesting Local Government elections on October 5. That is one thing you will like to hear. We are in court and I will not speak in any matter that is in court. The much I can say to you is that the cause of action is to restrain the agencies that will conduct that election that they announced behind us.
“We are not part of the decisions to conduct an election on October 5. We have gone on air on the 19th of January if I remember to tell the INEC Chairman and the Commission to convey the process of having that Local Government election at that time. It was still within the ambits of the laws of the State because the law says three months to the expiration of the life of a Chairman. Or tenure of the Council that the national body should organize election.
“That the process should commence, timetable released and that the 21 days inside that three months election should hold. That law now as we speak will not work. It will not work. You cannot go and convey Local Government elections in Rivers State without a party like APC. I know too that PDP is not even in the race. So, what we see is just a drama.
“The reason we went to court is not because we don’t have the number. Or that we don’t have the strength. I can assure you and you know for yourself that we have men and women that can contest any election and win.
“We are saying that the processes should be strengthened to be transparent. So that we cannot just go and work on thorns and get ourselves hurt. I was only doing a whistle blowing because that election will not represent the interest and the opinions of those who will vote. It is already stereotyped. The handout had already be written. We have build party formations we have build elections in this State. They are just coming in and they need to learn from us how we succeeded.
“So if you have to go by good approach, you will not succeed. The day that they said they have stakeholders meeting, I was not invited. The APC Rivers State was not invited for the stakeholders meeting where the decision for October 5th election was taken. So, we cannot participate in that election because there was a deliberate plan to make us worthless. So, we went to court.
“We are not saying we wouldn’t contest election. Our contention is that the processes should be in tandem with the law. And that we as a party we are also aware we were not carried along in the entire arrangement.”
source: Vanguard
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