It’s difficult to say if elections ‘ll be free, fair – CLARK

It’s difficult to say if elections ‘ll be free, fair – CLARK


By Perez Brisibe

KIAGBODO—ELDER statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, has expressed worries that with recent happenings in preparations for the general elections, “it will be difficult to say if the elections will be free and fair.”



E. K. Clark

Chief Clark, the leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, also questioned the independence of the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, saying, “even though it has been said INEC is independent, with the Nigeria factor, is INEC really free?”

Clark, who spoke during a briefing at his Kiagbodo residence in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, questioned the morality of using the same contractor who he alleged was blacklisted by the commission in 2011.

Clark said: “I was one of those active persons who took on this man in 2015 when there was contest between Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the present President, Muhammadu Buhari.

“We discovered from Facebook at that time that he will do everything possible to make Jonathan lose the election. So we went into investigation as to why this man was so categorical. It was then that we discovered that this man has a factory in Maitama, Abuja, where he was manufacturing these things.

“We even went to the extent of videoing the place. When it came to their (INEC) knowledge, they gave the contract to a Chinese company and it took time for those materials to arrive.” Source:

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/02/its-difficult-to-say-if-elections-ll-be-free-fair-clark/