The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it stands by its statement that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will not field candidates for the 2019 general elections in Zamfara.

INEC Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, stated this on the sideline of the opening of a two-day validation workshop titled “Study on the cost of elections in ECOWAS Region” on Monday in Abuja.

“We have issued a statement on Zamfara and nothing has changed. We stand by the statement that we issued,” he said.

Mr Yakubu re-emphasised that the deadline for submission of party candidates’ name to the commission was October 18, saying that it would give a full report on that after November 18.

INEC had informed the ruling APC in a leaked memo that it would not be allowed to field candidates for elective positions in Zamfara in the 2019 elections.

The commission’s acting secretary, Okechukwe Ndeche, in a letter to the APC said the party was barred from fielding candidates for governorship, national assembly and state assembly elections.

The commission said this was because APC failed to comply with Sections 87 and 31 of the Electoral Act of 2010.

Parties, according to the act, were expected to comply with the timetable and schedule of INEC, which says that the conduct of primaries must be held between August 18 and October 7.

INEC said it received reports from its Zamfara office, indicating that no primaries were conducted in the state “notwithstanding that our officials were fully mobilised and deployed.”