INEC Confirms Labour Party’s Absence in Edo National Assembly By-Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has confirmed that the Labour Party will not take part in next week’s National Assembly by-elections in Edo State.

The polls, set to fill vacant seats in the Edo Central Senatorial District and Ovia Federal Constituency, follow the emergence of Senator Monday Okpebholo and Hon. Dennis Idahosa as governor and deputy governor, respectively.

Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Anugbum Onuoha, told journalists in Benin City that the Labour Party neither informed INEC of its intention to contest nor had its primaries monitored by the commission.

“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 they were locked and no activity took place,” Onuoha stated.

This clarification comes despite the Labour Party’s earlier claim that Paul Okojie had been nominated as its candidate for the Edo Central senatorial race.

The nine parties cleared for the by-elections are: 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).

Onuoha assured that INEC is fully prepared for a free, fair and credible poll, noting that non-sensitive materials have been deployed and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) configured.

He added that 101,617 of the 719,504 registered voters in the seven affected LGAs have yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards.

Responding to PDP’s call for his redeployment, the REC dismissed the concerns, insisting that INEC’s structure makes compromise impossible.