The charges against Agu, according to the electoral umpire, were founded more on suspicion than on solid proof.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has maintained that there is no justification for the removal of Prof. Sylvia Agu, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Imo State, despite mounting criticism and requests for her removal.
Rotimi Oyekanmi declared on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday that “the REC will conduct the election.”
Chief Press Secretary for INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Oyekanmi, stated that there was no justification for taking away the REC and that the accusations made against Agu were suspect.
“We don’t have any evidence that proves any allegation that is being made at this time, and we don’t have any reason to remove her from there,” he stated.
“When there are complaints against our officers, we also don’t joke with complaints; however, you must provide evidence that our officers are culpable,” Oyekanmi said. “The Commission takes its responsibility seriously and we don’t joke with the conduct of elections.”
The INEC chairman’s spokesperson stated that when RECs in the states of Abia, Sokoto, and Adamawa behaved outside the commission’s guidelines during the earlier-in-the-year general elections, the electoral body initiated disciplinary action against them.
“No Proof Against Agu”
Mohammed Barde was reassigned as the Commissioner of Police in Imo State last Sunday for “neutrality sake” by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, in response to demands from Organised Labour that Barde was involved in the attack on NLC President Joe Ajaero.
At a stakeholders’ meeting hosted by INEC on Tuesday, candidates Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Athan Achonu of the Labour Party (LP) staged a walkout in protest, demanding that Agu be redeployed in the same manner as Barde was by the police.
“As far as we are concerned, we haven’t seen anything to implicate the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Imo State,” Oyekanmi asserted, nevertheless.
He gave the electoral political parties his word that INEC would operate impartially and fairly.
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“We assure all political parties that we will not tolerate any kind of pandering to any interest in this election; our goal is to hold free, fair, and credible elections,” stated Oyekanmi.
“27 RECs Implemented”
The electoral umpire, he continued, had sent two national commissioners and nine more RECs to each of the three states where the November 11, 2023, governorship elections will be held.
Additionally, the official stated that 46,000 commission employees had been assigned to the three states, and that non-sensitive and sensitive goods, such as Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices, had been supplied to each state.
Assuring voters in the three states that the Result Viewing Portal (IReV) would function on Saturday, Oyekanmi stated that there was no cause to question the ability of security agencies.
Elections for governor will be held on Saturday in Bayelsa and Kogi, just like in Imo.
As Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State approaches the end of his two terms of eight years in office, Governors Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State and Hope Uzodimma of Imo State are running for reelection in their respective states.
Top candidates for Kogi’s November 11, 2023 election include the Social Democratic Party’s Murtala Ajaka, the African Democratic Party’s Leke Abejide, the Peoples Democratic Party’s Dino Melaye, and the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) Usman Ododo, a former Kogi Auditor General of Local Government under Bello.
In Bayelsa, APC’s Timipre Sylva and PDP’s Diri will square off in the polls; in Imo, Anyanwu and Achonu, among others, will face off against APC’s Uzodimma.
