APGA senatorial candidate review process, INEC reacts

Ifeanyi Eleje, candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the Ebonyi South Senatorial District by-election, has described the elections as “hugely flawed”.

Eleje, who made this claim on Saturday in Afikpo while speaking to journalists, further described the process as “marred by intimidation”.

“This is the first election where I witnessed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) telling voters to vote and leave.

“Does this mean that accreditation details would be used for punch printing?

“I have informed the INEC leadership in the state and they have not responded as promised,” he said.

He said there was no hope for the country’s electoral system if that trend continued and called for urgent measures to control it.

“These elections are out of season, so we expected greater efficiency in their conduct.

“However, what we saw was the use of authority to intimidate voters.

“This election, like all off-season elections, experienced low voter turnout and we hope that is reflected in the results,” he said.

However, the head of the INEC Electoral Education and Publicity Department in Ebonyi, Christian Elekwa, dismissed Mr Eleje’s claim, saying the commission should not be associated with it.

Elekwa told NAN in an interview that the approved practice was to accredit voters and allow them to vote immediately.

“It’s a simultaneous process and I don’t know where this type of insinuation comes from,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the opposition in Ebonyi described the elections as a “farce riddled with irregularities”. (YAYA)