The
Kogi state election petition tribunal has ordered the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct rerun elections in 14 local government
areas of the state.
The state’s Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Mallam Haliru Pai, made this known on Thursday, February 4 during a stakeholders meeting.
Pai
said the commission will on February 20 conduct rerun election in 1, 988
polling units in 14 local government areas of the state.
He
said the rerun election will hold in two senatorial districts of the state,
Kogi Central and Kogi East. He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) will
not be participating in the Kogi Central and Kogi East senatorial election
because of the court ruling that barred the two candidates and the party from
contesting.
According
to him, the APC will not also take part in the federal constituency election
into Ogoro/Okene federal constituency following a court ruling. He said it is
only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate that is qualified for the
re-run election.
The
REC while speaking on the Kogi state House of Assembly rerun also disclosed
that the APC and its candidates will not also part take in the Ofu and Ankpa 1
rerun, but would be eligible to participate in Idah, Dekina/Biraidu and Okura
rerun.
Pai
said the rerun election in Idah will be conducted in one polling unit, Ogegele
ward, unit 003. He further hinted that the commission will be conducting the
exercise with about 9, 816 adhoc staff including youth corpers, security
officers and other personnel.
The
REC promised the resident of a level playing field, assuring that the rerun
election will be free and fair. He explained that the reason for the rerun
election in 14 local government areas of the state is because of non-conduct of
primary by one of the parties, “which led to litigation.”
The
commission as part of efforts to get our electoral processes right recently
embark on relationship renewal with important partners. The commission hasreleased
dates for rerun elections in about 16 states across the country.
The
states include Gombe, Kaduna, Adamawa, Kogi, Niger, Rivers, Abia, Anambra,
Benue, Plateau, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, among others. The dates were fixed on
Monday, February 1, 2016 after series of consultations with major stakeholders
in the electoral process and public interest on the subject.
In
a related development, INEC in a statement issued by its secretary, Augusta
Ogakwu, on Tuesday, February 2, disqualified
fresh candidates from participating in the forthcoming Senatorial and House of
Representatives rerun elections in Nigeria as the commission
scheduled February 13 and March 19 for the polls.
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