Party primaries for the governorship election and nomination of candidates for in Edo and Ondo States have been fixed for between June 2 – 27 and July 2 – 25 respectively, the Independent National Electoral Commission said on Friday.
The governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States are slated for September 19, 2020, and October 10, 2020, respectively and the commission said it had commenced the review of the deployment of security operatives.
The chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who stated these in Abuja during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners, said the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security has set up a committee about the review already.
He noted that the commission would display the certificates of the candidates in its offices in the two states, urging the voters to examine them and take appropriate legal actions before the D-day.
The INEC chairman said, “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 June 2 to 27 2020. The date for Ondo State is July 2 to 25 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 July 6, 2020, in Edo State and on August 4, 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.”
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