Boycott Anambra supplementary election, CNPP tells parties

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties has called on political parties to boycott the Anambra State supplementary election fixed for Saturday (tomorrow) by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The INEC scheduled the supplementary polls in about 30 wards, following irregularities that marred the November 16 Anambra governorship election, which led to the cancellation of over 113,000 votes.

But, CNPP in a statement by its spokesman, Osita Okechukwu, on Thursday called on political parties to boycott the supplementary election “so as not to unwittingly legitimise an illegality.”

According to the statement, the party made the call on the premise that it has lost confidence in INEC chairman, Prof. Atahiru Jega.

“No amount of lame excuses by the eminent professor and his cohorts would justify or rationalise the sham election,” it said.

The statement noted that the CNPP disagreed totally with Jega’s platitudes that “we had expected Anambra election to be the best, but unfortunately it was not.”

The CNPP statement added, “We did our best. However, from all indications, our best doesn’t seem good enough. This is why we have gone back and asked ourselves, how can we continue to do our best so as to meet public expectations?

“We have resolved that no matter what, we shall retain our sanity and remain focused. I have and will continue to tell Nigerians that there is no need for us to panic at this time.

“We have reasons to panic, for the United States National Intelligence Agency and other pundits had predicted that our dear country will fall apart in 2015 and Nigeria since after the civil war has never been as divided as now. Our panic therefore is, ‘can we in all honesty entrust the sensitive 2015 general elections to Professor Attahiru Jega?’

“The question remains, if the eminent professor cannot successfully conduct a single Anambra State governorship election, what are the guarantees that he can successfully conduct a multi-election – State House of Assembly, Federal House of Representatives, Senate, Governorship and Presidential elections?”

Source: Punch