Anambra Guber: Multiple Court Orders May Affect Poll – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has lamented the multiple court orders issued on the November 6 Anambra governorship election.

Naija News reports that various court orders have declared different candidates of the same party eligible for the Anambra election since INEC released the list of cleared candidates last month.

Speaking at the implementation meeting of the Voter Education and Publicity Department in Anambra State on Tuesday, INEC spokesman, Festus Okoye, said the Commission is worried that the various court orders may affect the conduct of the exercise.

Okoye added that some of the orders have the tendency of eroding the powers of the Commission and compromising its independence, powers and timelines for the conduct of the election.

He said: “The frequency with which courts issued orders which he said have “far-reaching implications on the conduct of the Anambra state governorship election.

“Some of the orders have the tendency of eroding the powers of the Commission and compromising its independence, powers and timelines for the conduct of the upcoming election.

“The commission usually issues access codes to the national chairman of political parties with which they upload the personal details and list of their candidates electronically.

“This has prevented the demonstrations and violence normally witnessed in the commission’s premises by different party factions.

“Unfortunately, some of the judgements and orders were given especially on the primary elections in Anambra state have bypassed our portal and sought to restore the manual submission of the List and Personal Particulars of candidates.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult for the commission to obey court orders and judgements “as some of the political parties and the candidates have perfected the art of shopping for the first in time or the latest in time.

“We, therefore, called on the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to intervene as such practice must not get to 2023.

“The leadership of the bar association and the leadership of the judiciary must wade into this descent to forum shopping and the multiplicity of orders and judgements from courts of coordinate jurisdiction,” he said.

“This is urgent, it is imperative and cannot be carried over to the 2023 general election.”