Okonkwo faults FCT polls, says it held under ‘unknown law

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has faulted the conduct of the recent Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections, alleging that the exercise was carried out under an “unknown law”.

Okonkwo made the claim on Monday during an interview on Channel’s Television’s Sunrise Daily.

Reacting to the outcome of the polls in which the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won five of the six area councils in the FCT, Okonkwo accused the ruling party of deliberately withholding critical legal information from the public.

Nigerians should not be carried away by what this dubious APC is doing. Up till now, the gazetted copy of the Electoral Act 2026 is not out,” he said.

He alleged that the failure to make the law publicly available undermined the credibility of the elections.

“APC is intentionally hiding everything so that Nigerians do not even understand until it is too late,” Okonkwo added.

The ADC chieftain insisted that the absence of a publicly gazetted law rendered the conduct of the election unlawful.

The FCT election was conducted under an unknown law. And this is against the rule of law,” he said.

According to him, the legal framework guiding elections must be made available to citizens before it can be enforced.

“Before you implement a law on the people, it must be publicly published,” Okonkwo stated.

The former presidential spokesperson for the Labour Party said Nigerians must demand transparency in the legal process surrounding elections, warning that failure to do so could weaken public confidence in the country’s democratic institutions.

The FCT Area Council elections were held last weekend, with the APC emerging as the dominant party across most of the councils.

Culled from vanguard