•Anugbum Onuoha
The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Edo State, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, has expressed his anger against all the governorship aspirants in Edo State for engaging in open campaigns while the Commission was yet to lift ban on campaigns for the September 21 gubernatorial election.
The REC who called on the aspirants to remove all their campaign billboards or face sanction also castigated the media organizations who carry such campaigns, just as he threatened to report them to relevant regulatory agencies for sanction, reports Daily Independent.
Onuoha who made his feelings known yesterday in Benin, during his maiden parley with journalists in the state threatened to sanction the aspirants for allegedly flouting the campaign timetable.
According to him, it is clear to all the political parties that the time table for Edo governorship election stipulated clearly that campaigns will be flagged off in April by all political parties.
“For engaging in campaigns while the Commission was yet to lift ban on campaign is an affront on INEC and the electoral laws and I am calling on the aspirants to remove all their campaign billboards or face sanction.
Onuoha also confirmed that officials of the Commission in the state monitored the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress held at the Lushville Hotel and Suite, along Gapiona Avenue, Benin city.
He was asked which of the two parallel primaries conducted by the two factions of the party was monitored by INEC, Onuoha said he monitored the one the Commission was invited to.
While explaining further, Onuoha said the Supreme Court has taken decision on the monitoring of party primaries, adding that party primaries are primary duties of the parties.
“Our own is to supervise and in doing such supervision, the party will tell us the venue. It is not the state chapter of the party that will tell us the venue.
“The national body will write to INEC national chairman of the venue, and the date and the time of the primary, and that we have followed strictly.
“Any political party primaries that was not minuted to us by our headquarters, we will not monitor.
“We were notified by APC and we monitored the one we were invited to at Lushville Hotel. I was there, that was where I went,” he said
