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abujagirl
Guest
The All Progressives Congress (APC), has been disqualified from contesting the September 21 local government elections in Cross River State.
According to The Guardian Nigeria, Sir Patrick Otu,Chairman of Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission ,CROSIEC, on Friday said his commission took the decision to disqualify APC after considering all legal implications, and in order not to run foul of the law.
The electoral law, he noted, stipulates that “if parties merge, that party can only stand election after 90 days.”
In this regard, he said, “The Commission cannot postpone the election because of a newly registered party. By September 21, when the local government elections will take place, the stipulated 90 days period would not have been met by APC in the state. Therefore, no candidate can be fielded to run on the platform of APC.
“Everything about election is law and nothing can be done outside the law. The former parties that merged to form APC are, by law, dead. What emerged will have to pay the price as no law covers what you were before the merger. By law, APC is disqualified from fielding candidates for both the chairmanship and the councillorship positions in the forthcoming elections”.
Most likely, it might just be two political parties that will contest the September 21 Council polls.