Before the election for the governor of Ondo State, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has encouraged Civil Society Organizations to get involved with political parties and watch their initial selections.
Yakubu made this statement during the initial quarterly meeting with CSOs in Abuja on Wednesday.
“For Ondo State, political parties will start their initial selections for the governor election in the next two weeks. Sixteen political parties have shown interest in taking part in the election.
“I encourage Civil Society Organizations to get involved with political parties and watch their nominations just like you engage with INEC and send observers to the main election conducted by the commission.
“By doing so, you will strengthen your advocacy for inclusivity for groups such as women, youths, and Persons with Disability that are under-represented in elective offices at the National and State levels,” the INEC boss said.
For the Edo governorship poll, Yakubu complained that only eight parties have uploaded the details of their candidates to the INEC portal with only four days left to the deadline.
“For Edo State, 18 political parties conducted their initial selections monitored by the commission. According to the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election, political parties have 20 days from March 4, 2024, to upload the list and personal details of their candidates to our dedicated web portal.
“As of this morning, eight parties have done so. We expect the other parties to do so before the deadline of 6pm on March 24, 2024, when the portal automatically shuts down.
“After that, the commission will publish the personal details of the candidates (Form EC9) on March 31, 2024, for public scrutiny as required by law,” he noted.
However, he warned that the commission would carry out ‘No Observation Report, No Accreditation’ if defaulters failed to submit their observation reports.
“While many of you have submitted your reports, some accredited observers are yet to do so for the general election, supplementary elections, off-cycle elections, bye-elections, and re-run elections.
“Therefore, let me remind those who are yet to submit their observation reports that it is mandatory to do so being one of the conditions for eligibility to observe future elections.
“From now on, the Commission will strictly follow the policy of “No Observation Report, No Accreditation,” the INEC chairman said.
The Edo State governorship election is scheduled to be held September 21, 2024, while the Ondo State governorship election will be held November 16, 2024.
Yakubu expressed frustration about the disruptive primary elections in various political parties prior to the governorship poll in Edo State.
The INEC chairman said the electoral body found such a situation disruptive and called on political parties to strictly adhere to their proposed dates and modes of primaries.
