Ebun Francis
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has barred the All Progressives Congress (APC) from fielding candidates for elective positions in Zamfara state in the 2019 elections.
By this development, the party will not field candidates for governorship, national assembly and state assembly elections because it failed to comply with sections 87 and 31 of the electoral act.
INEC’s decision was conveyed to APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole by Okechukwe Ndeche, the commission’s acting secretary in a letter.
In line with the provision of the electoral act, political parties were expected to comply with the timetable and schedule of INEC by concluding primary elections between August 18 and October 7, 2018.
But in the letter to APC, INEC said it received reports from its Zamfara office, indicating that no primaries were conducted in the state “notwithstanding that our officials were fully mobilised and deployed”.
The Zamfara state chapter of APC was engulfed in internal struggle for power tthat made it impossible for any credible primaries to be conducted.
In an attempt to resolve the crisis, the national working committee (NWC) of the party had dissolved the Zamfara APC executive committee.
The NWC then set up a panel to conduct fresh elections but aggrieved members of the party prevented them from conducting any election.