By Paul Odenyi

Abuja—All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, and Labour Party, LP, have threatened to drag the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to the court should it go ahead to conduct elections in the five states which governors were sacked by a Supreme Court decision last weekend.

The two parties are insisting that to allow a level-playing field for all political parties, INEC should adhere to the provisions of the Electoral Act to give them opportunity to select their candidates, campaign and strategise for the elections in the affected states.

Speaking to newsmen in Abuja yesterday, National Chairman of LP, Mr. Dan Nwanyanwu, said INEC had no powers to disregard the position of the law as expressed by the Supreme Court, the apex court in the land, which categorically ordered INEC to maintain the status quo over all elections.

On it part, ANPP, speaking through Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, its National Chairman, maintained that in the cases of Sokoto and Cross River states, the new INEC timetable clearly gave Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, undue advantage over the other parties.

The party also said that the last Friday’s landmark judgment of the Supreme Court on the tenure elongation of governors of Adamawa, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Kogi and Sokoto states had cleared any iota of doubt as to the tenure of the elected governors, especially those who, by virtue of the nullification of their earlier election, participated in a re-run election and won.

Nwanyanwu said: “The Supreme Court judgment last Friday is explicit on the mode of the election. INEC should not be acting partisan.

“Elections are not something you just announce and rail-road people into. Parties and candidates must be given time to prepare. The constitution that stipulates between 60 and 90 days for the processes is not stupid, neither are the people that put the Electoral Act together.

“My party will not relent until this act of illegality by the electoral umpire is addressed and if they fail to retrace their steps, we will see in the court.”

For ANPP said: “INEC is hereby being called upon to issue new/fresh election timetable for the conduct of the governorship elections in the five states affected in such a manner that all registered political parties interested in participating and in contesting the governorship elections shall do so without being exposed to any disadvantage which the earlier misconception had presented.”

“This clarification of the law and provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has called for appropriate steps to rectify mistakes, especially impending can tell you that my party will be fielding candidates in all the five states affected but it is not proper for somebody to wake up one morning to announce that election will hold tomorrow.

“There has to be proper consultation, and the political parties must be consulted. It is beyond INEC making pronouncement and it is even unfortunate when its pronouncement contradicts the judgment of the Supreme Court.”