Ahead of the Ondo State governorship primary election which will commence on 6th April, 2024, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cautioned all the political parties against frequent changes as witnessed recently during the Edo primaries are not only disruptive but costly.
The Commission noted that it cannot mobilise, demobilise and remobilise its officials for the monitoring of party primaries at the convenience of political parties.
Against this background, the electoral body said political parties should stick to their proposed dates and modes of primaries for certainty and optimal deployment of resources.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the first regular quarterly consultative meeting with political parties.
TheHintsNews reports that Edo State governorship election is holding in the next six months, specifically on Saturday 21st September, 2024; while the Ondo State Governorship election is holding on Saturday 16th November, 2024.
Yakubu noted: “Frequent changes as we witnessed recently during the Edo primaries are not only disruptive but costly.
“Similarly, political parties should avoid acrimonious primaries. Increasingly, the conduct of parallel primaries and the emergence of multiple candidates is a frequent occurrence.
“So too is the tendency to grant waivers to candidates who were a few days earlier card-carrying members of other political parties and nominating such persons to the Commission as their candidates for election.
“Some of these infractions lead to unnecessary litigations among party members in which the Commission is always joined as a party. The legal fees and cost of producing Certified True Copies (CTCs) of documents can be used more productively in other electoral activities by both the political parties and the Commission. We must find a solution to this situation.”
The commission revealed that only six political parties out of 16 parties that indicated interest to participate in the Edo governorship election have uploaded the details of their candidates on its portal.
To this end, the chairman urged the parties to keep to the schedule of activities of the commission and avoid last minute rush that might undermine their ability to successfully nominate their candidates.
He reiterated that there won’t be any extension of the period.
He said party primaries for the Edo State Governorship election have been concluded, saying by the timetable and schedule of activities for the election, political parties have 20 days to upload the list and personal particulars of their candidates to the commission’s dedicated portal.
The chairman said the commission has trained party Liaison Officers and established a Help Desk for political parties.
His words: “The portal opened on 4th March 2024 and will automatically shut down at 6pm on Saturday 24th March, 2024.
“Two weeks later, only six parties have uploaded their nominations to the portal. We urge you to keep to our schedule of activities and avoid last minute rush that may undermine your ability to successfully nominate your candidates.”
“There will be no extension of time beyond the deadline already published in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election, to enable us publish the personal particulars of candidates (Form EC9) on 31st March, 2024 as required by law.”