Fanen Ihyongo, Jalingo
The Chairman of Taraba State Independent Electoral Commission (TSIEC), Philip Duwe, has described as “frivolous and incorrect” the call by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the timetable for the forthcoming local government council election be withdrawn.
TSIEC has fixed the local government polls June 30, but the State Chairman of the APC, Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi, has called for postponement of the polls.
He said in a press conference that the APC will not participate in the election if TSIEC does not withdraw the timetable.
He said that the lockdown in the State due to COVID-19 pandemic had restricted movements to local government areas which did not afford them the opportunity to campaign, sale forms and screen their candidates, adding that they need more time to prepare.
El-Sudi also threatened that the APC will go to court to challenge the electoral activities of TSIEC, if the state’s electoral body goes ahead to conduct the local government council election on June 30.
He called for the immediate removal of Philip Duwe as TSIEC boss accusing him of bias, unfairness and deceitfulness in the conduct of affairs of elections.
But Duwe, a twice former commissioner, in swift response, said “for someone to accused me of cheating, I think the allegation is libelous and should be proven in the law court. What a hell is that? Cheating who?”
Duwe said the statement by the APC chairman was a calculated attempt to create animosity in the state, which he warned, will only drag the state backward.
He explained that preparations for the local government election had started since February, based on the initial time table, before the state announced lockdown.
“Then, on June 6, the TSIEC had a meeting with the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) during which 15 of the 17 registered political parties in the state agreed that the election should hold on June 27. We decided that June 30 would be the ideal date for the election,” he said.
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Duwe recalled that the opposition had threatened to go to court if the local government council caretaker committees were not dissolved and elections conducted.
He said it was abnormal for the same party to come out now calling for postponement of the election, adding “to participate in the election is optional.”
On the issue of Coronavirus, the TSIEC chair said “government cannot shutdown everything. We need to develop a new normal to do things, by trying to live with the pandemic.
“We concluded that we shall go ahead and do the election. We cannot afford to wait until the pandemic is zero in the country. Democracy cannot wait too.
“Benue State has conducted their local government polls. Cross River and Ondo States also announced to hold their council elections. So, Taraba too has to do its elections.
“Are the political parties the ones to fix dates for elections? No. Is not in their manifestos. It is the mandate of the Independent Electoral Commission to liaise with parties and fix dates and conduct elections.
“Some political parties have already started buying our forms for the election, based on the timetable we all signed and publicised. It will therefore, be a subversion of our constitutional mandate if we do otherwise.
“I cannot cheat anyone. I make sure there is a level playing ground. In the last council polls, the APC won some wards and we announced the winners,” Duwe said.
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