INEC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, has denied withdrawing from the current Kano gubernatorial election petition case.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, made the announcement Saturday in Abuja.
He stated that the commission’s legal officer, who allegedly resigned from the case, had been punished.
According to him:
“The attention of the Commission has been drawn to media reports based on a letter written by the Legal Officer of our Kano State office indicating that the Commission had withdrawn from the appeal process in the ongoing Kano Governorship election petition case.
“We wish to state categorically that the letter was not authorized. It has since been withdrawn and the officer reprimanded.
“The public is therefore advised to discountenance the insinuation that the Commission has withdrawn from the case or even worse abandoned the appeal.
“We wish to state categorically that where litigants join INEC in a case, the Commission is under obligation to respond accordingly.
“We have, therefore, instructed our lawyers to proceed in line with extant policy of the Commission. The policy has not changed.”
cc: Vanguard Ng
