…Tasks INEC to obey Supreme Court’s judgement

By Dirisu Yakubu

National chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Edozie Njoku has lauded chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu for his conduct of the continuous voter registration exercise in preparation for the 2023 general elections.

Njoku gave me the commendation while addressing journalists in Abuja at the weekend saying, “leadership is action, not a position. What the chairman of INEC has done is unprecedented in the history of preparation for election in Nigeria. It shows how prepared the commission is towards the 2023 general elections. An institution is tested by its ability to respond to foreseen and unforeseeable circumstances. That the commission was able to deploy registration machines to the South-East, Kano and Lagos to contain the upsurge of potential voters is an indication of the strategic plan that Mahmood has put in place at INEC.”

He also spoke of the party’s preparedness for the 2023 polls. ‘We have concluded our primaries. The last of them was the Presidential primary which took place on June 3, 2022 at Sheraton Hotels Abuja, where Chief Chekwas Okorie emerged as the Party’s Presidential flag bearer. We have fulfilled all the requirements and notified the commission as the law requires. We are waiting for INEC to oblige us the code so that we can upload all our candidates.

Njoke reiterated his claim to the chairmanship of the party noting that “the Supreme Court on May 9, 2022 corrected the error in the October 14, 2021 Judgment which it erroneously gave in favour of Ozonkpu Victor Ike Oye; declaring Chief Edozie Njoku as the authentic National Chairman of APGA.”

According to him, “we have been in court since 2019. We believe in what the commission is doing. We know that as soon as they are done with their due diligence, they will respect the Supreme Court Judgement and accord us recognition.

“While waiting for the INEC letter, APGA has been conducting aggressive mobilization for our people to register and vote in the coming election. We believe that political parties should serve as a platform for people to consummate the social contract which rests with citizens seeing the electoral process as a fundamental aspect of national development. Therefore, we plead with INEC to hasten up and obey the Supreme Court Judgment and also to look into the possibility of extending voter registration.