Posted by By TOPE ADEBOBOYE on
Barely 48 hours to Saturday's presidential elections, the Action Congress (AC) has raised alarm that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been "dribbling" the party over the fate of its presidential standard bearer, Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Barely 48 hours to Saturday's presidential elections, the Action Congress (AC) has raised alarm that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been "dribbling" the party over the fate of its presidential standard bearer, Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Already, the party has sent a letter to the chairman of the electoral body, Professor Maurice Iwu, demanding to view specimen copies of the ballot papers in order to confirm that Atiku's name had been included.
On Monday, the Supreme Court had ruled that INEC lacked the powers to disqualify the vice president from participating as a candidate in the election. Responding to the judgement, Iwu had told a delegation of election monitors that Atiku's name would be included on the ballot.
But the AC, in a letter signed by its National Secretary, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, accused the electoral body of being unnecessarily evasive on Atiku's fate.
The party said it had resolved to dispatch a team to INEC to confirm that the apex court's ruling had indeed been complied with by the electoral body.
In the letter, the AC said its delegation to INEC would also love to witness the destruction of the ballot papers that did not bear Atiku's name.
Said the party: "We are also asking that the Nigerian people have the opportunity to view the ballot before the election. As you know, there was so much confusion regarding the ballots for numerous state elections, with some including names of candidates that INEC said it excluded, and others omitting names that the commission supposedly include.
Some of that confusion would have been avoided if voters were allowed to see samples of those ballots before the election, as that would have permitted the correction of such mistakes. It is especially urgent that voters have an opportunity to view the presidential ballot in order to avoid mistakes that would further undermine the credibility of INEC."