Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC) on Monday reaffirmed that the June 14 council polls in the state would hold in spite of rumours to the contrary.
The commission’s Commissioner in charge of Information, Mr Charles Ejiogu, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Owerri, that the election date was sacrosanct and advised the public to discountenance misleading speculations.
Speculations about postponement or outright discontinuation of the council elections were predicated on the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, which has polarised the party into warring factions.
Ejiogu pointed out that the council elections would be the first since Gov. Rochas Okorocha’s administration began seven years ago, adding that it must hold “as preparations are in top gear’’.
“We have not had reason to change the date. I know that is what many people want to hear. We are doing our own part and all stakeholders in the electioneering process are doing theirs as well.
“What we are doing is constitutional. I can assure you that the date still stands and the elections will hold,” he said.
NAN reports that fears that the local government elections may be shifted stemmed from precedent as Okorocha had some time in 2017, announced that the exercise would hold in September of that year.
But, the elections did not hold, and given the factionalised state of APC in the state currently, there are doubts that the poll would hold as scheduled by ISIEC.