The Cross River State Independent Electoral
Commission has disqualified the All Progressives Congress, APC, from fielding candidates for the September 21 local government elections in the state.

Chairman of CROSIEC, Mr. Patrick Otu, made this disclosure over the weekend after a meeting held at the Commission’s office in Calabar with registered political parties.

He said the Commission took the decision after considering all legal implications to forestall complicity, adding that the electoral law, stipulated that “if parties merge, that party can only stand election after 90 days”.

“The Commission cannot postpone the election because of a newly registered party. By September 21 when the local government
elections will take place, the stipulated 90 days period would not have been met by the APC in the state. Therefore, no candidate can be fielded to run on the platform of the APC.

“Everything about the election is law and nothing can be done outside the
law. The former parties that merged to form APC are by law dead. What emerged will have to pay the price as no law covers what you were before the merger. By law, APC is disqualified from fielding candidates for both the chairmanship and the councillorship positions in the forthcoming elections”.

Merging parties including the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, Consensus ₣ǑƦ Progressive Change and Action Congress of Nigeria, were unable to harmonise their list of candidates.

Although a representative of the APC, Mr. Ayei
Akpang, at the meeting appealed for an extension, the CROSIEC boss noted that there were Lawful conditions for postponing or extending the time for the election, which did not include new registration.

“There is no state of emergency in the state that would warrant an extension of time. When in 2004 we had a state of emergency because of the political situation, then it was understood. Election timetable is very important, especially to any election management body,” the electoral boss said.

maxwello.yg:
Wooow. That means VOP, PDM, and other parties registered after APC won't contest as well?
That leaves us with PDP, ANPP, AGPA, LP. Hmmm alright.

Jayses: Book

maxwello.yg:
Wooow. That means VOP, PDM, and other parties registered after APC won't contest as well?
That leaves us with PDP, ANPP, AGPA, LP. Hmmm alright.

4reigningqueen: ddd

specialguest: CROSIEC is not the same as INEC. when I saw the Words INEC and local government polls I had to open this thread to read. CROSIEC is a state owned electoral management body and they are incharge of conducting LGA elections in the state. In the same manner they have ANSIEC Anambra state electoral commission and so on for other states. INEC was stopped from conducting LGA elections in the country sometime around 1999. Therefore INEC has no constitutional powers to interfere with LG polls except as observers.

Mods take note.

bandol: By Bassey Inyang, Correspondent, Calabar

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has stated that the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) cannot disqualify any of its candidates for the September 21, 2013 local government elections on the basis of what the party described as illegal charges imposed by the electoral body on candidates running the election.

The APC said such charges are illegal and unconstitutional null and void as far as the Nigerian constitution and various court judgments are concerned.

Speaking on Saturday to Sunday Independent, one of the leaders of APC in the state, and former ACN chairman Hilliard Eta, said: “There is a Supreme Court judgment which states that when you present a candidate for election to the electoral body, it is only a competent court of law that can disqualify that candidate from contesting the election for which the person’s name was submitted.

“Even at the worst case scenario, I can tell you that the CROSIEC cannot disqualify anyone. If they disqualify anyone, we will take them to court; up to the Supreme Court, let them go and defend what they have done.”

“In the letter we wrote when we were in ACN to the CROSIEC chairman, we told him: “look the CROSIEC is not, and has not been made a revenue yielding department of government. In 2002, Gani Fawehinmi took the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court and he won the case at the Supreme Court where it was interpreted in judgment that since INEC is not a revenue yielding department of government, it cannot charge a dime. That is why INEC does not charge even the presidential candidates.” And we told the chairman that even given your law that says that councillorship candidates can pay N5,000 and N10,000 ,we can actually say we don’t have the money , but you will not disqualify us. You have to take us to court. CROSIEC must take those candidates to court for not paying the N5, 000 or N10,000. But, they cannot disqualify us or our candidates.”
http://www.dailyindependentnig.com/2013/08/criver-council-polls-crosiec-cannot-disqualify-our-candidates-says-apc/

maxwello.yg:
Wooow. That means VOP, PDM, and other parties registered after APC won't contest as well?
That leaves us with PDP, ANPP, AGPA, LP. Hmmm alright.