The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced the exclusion of the Labour Party from the upcoming National Assembly by-elections in Edo State, scheduled for next week.
Speaking at a press briefing in Benin City, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Edo State, Prof Anugbum Onuoha claimed that the Labour Party did not officially notify the commission of its intention to contest the elections, nor was its primary monitored by INEC.
According to him, a total of nine political parties successfully submitted candidates for the elections, which will fill vacant seats in the Edo Central Senatorial District and the Ovia Federal Constituency.
The vacancies arose following the emergence of Senator Monday Okpebholo and Hon. Dennis Idahosa as governor and deputy governor, respectively.
“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,” Onuoha explained.
However, the Labour Party had said that Paul Okojie had been nominated as its candidate for the Edo Central senatorial seat.
The nine political parties cleared to participate in the by-elections include 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.
cpcnews.org 