INEC postpones rerun elections

monjola sotubo

July 26, 2016 2:18 PM

The postponement was announced by Independent National Electoral Commission Secretary, Mrs Augusta Ogakwu via a statement.

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of INEC

The

The postponement was announced by INEC Secretary, Mrs Augusta Ogakwu via a statement.

The statement reads in part:

“As a responsible organisation and conscious of the violence, maiming and fatalities which accompanied the previous election in March as well as developments in the state since then, the commission cannot ignore such credible reports.

“In the circumstances, therefore, it is compelled to further postpone the rerun legislative elections in Rivers State as one of the principal conditions earlier stipulated for the return of the state for the conclusion of the election has, regrettably, not been met.

“This, the commission holds, is also a collective responsibility to be borne by all political actors irrespective of political positions and affiliations. If the goal of political contests is to serve the people, then there is no greater service than ensuring, at all costs, the preservation of the lives of the people whom such services would be rendered.”

ALSO READ: INEC office burns to the ground in Rivers State [PHOTOS]

Fresh fears of electoral violence were resurrected when suspected arsonists burnt the INEC office in the Khana Local Government Area of the state to the ground on Friday, July 22.

monjola sotubo