•Lawmakers petition presidency
SOME members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have criticised the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its failure to issue Certificates of Return to them.
Acting under the auspices of the Committee of Anambra State PDP House of Representatives members-elect, the group urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene.
They accused the INEC leadership of indecision in the implementation of a valid court judgment regarding the elections of eight members of the House of Representatives from the state.
In a statement, they alleged that INEC, under Professor Mahmood Yakubu, “is bent on sustaining and oiling the machinery of impunity perpetrated by the past administration of PDP by foisting on the people of Anambra State, National Assembly members with no business in the National Assembly”.
Those who signed the statement are: Emmanuel Nweke, Benedict Obaze, Anthony Offiah, Charles Odedo, Princess Ifeyiwa Anazonwu, Mrs. Uchenna Obi, Ejike Nwene and Julius Oforma.
They alleged that the “National Assembly members, led by Senator Stella Oduah and Andy Uba were products of a Caretaker Committee of PDP set up in contempt of court to thwart the will of the people of Anambra State and the Federal High Court”.
In a petition to Buhari, the group said the President should wade into the matter.
They said the court had declared that the Caretaker Committee and everything it did prior to the 2015 general election, including its congresses and nominated candidates, were invalid and a nullity.