INEC Fixes Date For Party Primaries Ahead Of Edo, Ondo Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria’s electoral umpire, has fixed dates for the conduct of primaries by political parties in Edo and Ondo States ahead of the governorship elections slated for September 19 and October 10 respectively.

ThecommentNg reports that that the electoral umpire said party primaries for Edo state will hold from 2nd to 27th June, while that of Ondo State will hold from 2nd to 25th July.

Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC Chairman, who made the disclosure during the Commission’s meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners on Friday, warned that the Commission will not shift the dates.

Speaking further, the INEC Chairman said given recent experience with some Governorship elections, political parties needed to do more to avoid the conduct of acrimonious primaries or failure to observe due diligence in the screening of their candidates, resulting in protracted litigations and eventual determination of the outcome of elections by orders of the court.

His words: “I wish to draw the attention of political parties to two critical dates in the timetable released by the Commission a few weeks ago. Party primaries for the democratic election and nomination of candidates for the Governorship election in Edo State must be held from 2nd to 27th June 2020. The date for Ondo State is 2nd to 25th July 2020. The Commission will not extend the dates. We will also rigorously monitor the primaries and where necessary, apply sanctions as provided by law.

“At the same time, the personal particulars of all the candidates nominated by political parties for the Edo and Ondo Governorship elections, including their academic qualifications, will be displayed in our offices in the two States as required by law. This will enable citizens to scrutinise them and take legal action against any candidate who provides false information to the Commission.

“The personal particulars of candidates will be displayed on 6th July 2020 in Edo State and on 4th August 2020 in Ondo State. I wish to appeal to citizens to note the dates and to seize the opportunity to scrutinise the information provided on oath by the candidates in the interest of our democracy and good governance,” he said.