The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has turned down the request of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to remove Anugbum Onuoha as the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) ahead of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Governor Godwin Obaseki and the national leadership of the PDP, had expressed fear that Onuoha’s alleged close relationship with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike could potentially compromise the election.
Escalating the situation, the Chairman of the Edo State PDP, Anthony Aziegbemhin submitted a formal letter of protest to INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, demanding Onuoha’s immediate redeployment.
In the letter, Aziegbemhin emphasised that Onuoha is a cousin of Wike, raising further concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
“The ties between these two are too close to ignore as they share familiarities and are also close associates. To be clear, the relationship between the two is outlined below:
“The said Edo REC is a cousin to the Minister of the FCT, Mr. Wike. He also served as a former Commissioner and Special Adviser for Lands, Survey, and Housing to Mr. Wike during his tenure as Rivers governor,” the letter read in part.
However, in response, INEC’s Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, in a statement insisted that Onuoha would not be redeployed.
Oyekanmi further urged PDP to concentrate on the electoral process rather than focusing on officials.
He also highlighted the transparency of the voting process, explaining that polling results would be declared in the presence of party agents and stakeholders, with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) being used to upload results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
He reassured the public that INEC would provide a level playing field for all political parties, while dismissing allegations that the commission rigs elections.
“The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Edo State will not be redeployed. The governorship election will be conducted on 21st September 2024 in 4,519 polling units, not in the REC’s office.
“In the same manner, polling unit results will be declared by the respective Presiding Officers after the voting, ballot sorting and counting processes, in the presence of accredited party agents and other stakeholders.
“The PO will also take a picture of the PU result in each polling unit with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, and upload same to the INEC Result Viewing portal. This process is not the same as electronic voting or electronic transmission and collation of results. The IReV is for transparency purposes. The Nigerian constitution does not yet recognise eletronic voting. Copies of the PU results will be given to accredited party agents.
“Thereafter, the various collation stages will be undertaken before the declaration of the final result at the State Collation Centre in Benin-City.
“The PDP should, therefore, focus on the process, not on the REC or other officials of the commission. The conduct of the election and result collation activity will take place in the open and accredited party agents will witness every step,” Oyekanmi stated.
He further said, “INEC does not rig elections. The current commission conducted two governorship elections in Edo State in 2016 and 2020 successfully and nobody accused us of rigging.
“We assure all the political parties, registered voters and other stakeholders that the commission will provide a level playing field and not give any advantage to one political party or candidate over the other.”