The Labour Party will not run in the next week’s National Assembly by-elections in Edo State, according to confirmation from the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC. Nine political parties filed successful candidates for the elections, which will fill open seats in the Ovia Federal Constituency and the Edo Central Senatorial District, according to INEC.
Prof. Anugbum Onuoha, the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Benin City, explained during a press conference that the Labour Party did not formally inform the commission of its intention to run in the elections, nor was INEC monitoring its primaries.
Onuoha said, “From our records, the Labour Party and some other parties neither invited us to observe their primaries nor complied with the necessary procedures. In some cases, we arrived at venues, but the locations were shut, and no activity took place”
This statement contradicts previous Labour Party claims that Paul Okojie was the party’s nominee for the senate seat in Edo Central.
Action Alliance (AA); African Democratic Congress (ADC); All Progressives Congress (APC); Allied Peoples Movement (APM); Action Peoples Party (APP); Action Democratic Party (ADP); New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP); Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) are among the nine political parties authorized to run in the by-elections.
By claiming that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, or BVAS, has been completely configured and that non-sensitive election materials have already been distributed, Onuoha gave locals confidence that the commission is prepared to hold a free, fair, and credible election.
He also disclosed that 101,617 Permanent Voter Cards, or PVCs, are still unclaimed out of the 719,504 registered voters in the seven local government districts where the by-elections would be held.
In response to the PDP’s demands for his reassignment, the Edo REC brushed off the worries and asked the media to back INEC in order to maintain a legitimate procedure.
“Your relative cannot jeopardize the system, even if he is appointed to INEC. That isn’t conceivable because of the commission’s structure,” he stated.
