INEC restricts fresh Delta guber polls to 2007 candidates

ONLY candidates who featured in the 2007 Delta State governorship polls are qualified to participate in the new election ordered by the Appeal Court, which sacked Emmanuel Uduaghan as governor, the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.

With this disclosure by the INEC Resident Commissioner in the state, Mr. Ogbudu Gabriel, new entrants into the race are excluded. At an interactive session with some registered political parties in Asaba on Wednesday, Gabriel insisted that only the candidates fielded for the 2007 gubernatorial election would be allowed to participate in the re-run polls.

Prof. Attahiru Jega

In the wake of his failed petition against Uduaghan, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate in the controversial April 14, 2007 election, Peter Okocha, reportedly quit the party. Uduaghan’s victory was annulled last November 9 by the Appeal Court, Benin City, Edo State, as a result of large-scale irregularities.Consequently, there have been speculations that the current ACN aspirant, Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege, will feature in the fresh polls.
Besides, the REC said the commission would use the old voters’ register for the election, which will soon be displayed so that any flaw discovered in it can be corrected, just as he appealed for good guidance in order to arrive at a particular date for the re-election.
He conceded that though the terrain is rough, he had prepared himself to make the process transparent and appealed to politicians in the state to be sincere in the conduct.
He said: “Twelve parties participated in the election with their candidates. Those are the parties to present their candidates. The only clause for a new party is only when the candidate has died. INEC then can accept a replacement or if the legal people come out with another thing”.
According to him, the process started in 2007 and the same process will be followed, maintaining that only the law court can change the process, which he claimed, may be difficult considering the time-frame of three months given by the court.
On the relevance of party agents, Gabriel assured that all the political parties shall present their agents during the election just as he said the agents must be authenticated by INEC a week before the election.
“This time, the agents will be functional, they will monitor how the materials will be moved and distributed. Vehicular monitoring will be the responsibility of the political parties, not INEC”, he said.