INEC To Consult On Cancelled Polls

L-R: Acting Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, Mrs Sotonye Iyoyo, Group Executive Director, NNPC Ventures, Dr Babatunde Adeniran and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, during the minister’s appearance before the Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream , at the National Assembly in Abuja on Tuesday

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it would consult political stakeholders in Rivers State on logistics for repeat of legislative rerun elections in areas where the exercise was cancelled on March 19.
The Deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity in the commission, Mr. Nick Dazang, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen yesterday in Abuja.
Dazang said that the consultation would commence soon, because INEC was eager to ensure that the elections were concluded.
“We stated it clearly in our previous statement on Friday that we will not announce new date for the election until we have engaged with stakeholders and that engagement has not taken place.
“It is after the engagement that INEC will fix a date for the conclusion of the election. We cannot just go back to Rivers State like that, given what happened during the election.
“Engagement at the level of stakeholders will start soon”, he said, adding that the date for the consultation would be made public when fixed.
Dazang also told our correspondent that the commission would not release any other results from the March 19 re-run until the election were concluded.
“There cannot be more results than we have announced because as at the time we suspended the election, not all the elections have been concluded.
“It is only when election has been concluded that return can be made.
“When INEC suspended the elections, in some areas, voting had just started; in some areas, collation had just started, and in some areas, collation had been concluded but return had not been made.
“So, it is only in places where elections have been concluded that we have so far announced result,” he said.