THE  Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the All Progressives Congress (APC) will not participate in the Rivers State governorship election.

Festus Okoye, INEC Commissioner, in a public broadcast on Sunday said the Commission is acting based on a court ruling.

“The facts on the ground as of today is that the Federal High Court Port Harcourt Judicial division, delivered two judgements and said that the APC will not participate in the elections and that the logo of the APC or any of the candidates of the APC will not appear on the ballot papers on election day and INEC has fully complied with this particular directive,” he said.

Okoye said that the Commission is acting based on existing facts and can only change its position if there is a new ruling by a higher court which would enable the party to partake in the states’ election.

He equally debunked claims by some quarters that there might be plans to postpone elections in some parts of the country.

“If anything arises as we proceed towards the 2019 elections, we will deal with that particular eventuality.

“But as at today, the reality is that the APC will not participate in the elections, the elections will go on and it won’t be postponed.

“The PDP forwarded the name of a candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the candidate of the political party. INEC accepted the name of that candidate. During the period of substitution, the candidate was not substituted, therefore, the candidate’s name will appear on the ballot on Election Day.

“The only basis for the removal of any candidate from the list as at today is death”.

“We have released the final list for presidential and National Assembly elections and there wouldn’t be any change anymore,” Okoye said.