The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that it has been compelled to further postpone the conduct of the suspended National and State Legislative elections in Rivers state, earlier tentatively scheduled for Saturday, 30th July 2016, due to recorded cases of violence, intimidation and a general atmosphere of fear in some areas where the elections were to be conducted.
The Commission regretted that one of the earlier stipulated conditions for return to the state for the conclusion of the elections had not been met, despite widespread consultations with all major stakeholders in Rivers State. It stated: “while the Commission reiterated its readiness to conclude the outstanding elections, it also indicated its readiness to review and reconsider the suggested date as the security situation unfolded in the state”.
The Commission made its stand known in a statement signed by the Secretary to the Commission, Mrs. Augusta C. Ogakwu, yesterday (Monday 25th, July 2016).
The Commission explained that it took the decision to postpone the elections based on unanimous reports on periodic electoral risk assessment by Security Agencies, relevant extra Ministerial Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), carried out in the three and a half weeks since the decision was reached to schedule the elections on Saturday, 30th July 2016 at the National Stakeholders’ meeting which held on the 30th of June 2016 in Abuja.
Arguing that the prevailing situation in most parts of the state where elections were to be held were not conducive for peaceful elections, INEC said: “In the Commission’s view, the rhetorics of some of the political actors, the incidence of violence in a number of the Local Government Areas where these elections are scheduled and the atmosphere of fear and intimidation created by these rhetorics and violence, all indicate a clear and present danger in proceeding with the election as earlier scheduled. This situation is now further worsened by direct attacks on the Commission, of which the most recent and glaring was the burning down of the INEC office in Khana Local Government Area on 22nd July 2016. ”
The Commission assured all voters and stakeholders of its readiness to conclude elections in Rivers State within the shortest time possible once the security situation was deemed conducive for the conduct of peaceful elections. It stressed that: “anything less than this would not be in the interest of the people of Rivers State and the nation at large”.
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