Kogi: INEC Clears 23 Parties To Contest November Guber Poll, 18 Withdraw
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Festus Okoy, has said that 23 political parties have been cleared to contest the November governorship election in Kogi State and that 18 other parties have withdraw from the race.
In a statement today, September 27 in Abuja, Festus Okoye said that one party withdrew from the race in Bayelsa State, leaving 45 political parties in the race.
“At the close of the time stipulated by sections 31, 33 and 35 of Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) for the submission of the names of nominated candidates, 49 nominations were received for Kogi.
“Out of these, 41 nominations were valid, while eight were invalid. Subsequently, 18 political parties withdrew from contesting the elections. Therefore, 23 political parties will contest the governorship election in Kogi.
“For Bayelsa State, a total of 52 nominations were received. Out of these, 46 were valid, while 6 were invalid.
“One political party has since withdrawn from the contest, leaving a total of 45 political parties to contest the governorship election in Bayelsa.’’
Festus Okoye said that INEC monitored the primaries conducted for nomination of candidates for the two states and also made public its preliminary review of the list and personal particulars submitted by the parties at the close of nomination.
“After the review, we disclosed that some of the nominated candidates for governorship and deputy were below the minimum age prescribed by the constitution and that the Commission was considering further action.
“In a letter dated Sept. 13, the Commission notified the concerned political parties of the invalidity of their nominations.
“In Bayelsa State, six of the nominated Governorship and/or Deputy Governorship candidates were affected, while in Kogi State there were eight such nominees.
“Some of the affected parties have written the Commission admitting their error and requesting to submit new nominees to replace the under-aged ones.
“However, this was after the deadline for submission of nominations on September 9, 2019. As such, the Commission could not accept any fresh nominations.
“In like manner, since the parties did not submit valid nominations before the deadline; they cannot substitute the candidates on the grounds of death or voluntary withdrawal, in accordance with the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), which assumes the prior existence of valid nominations.’’
he said that before the 2019 general elections, INEC had cause to draw the attention of political parties to the same problem of nominating under-aged candidates.
“That communication was a notice to the parties that future violation of such a basic provision of the Constitution will be unacceptable and could lead to severe consequences.
“Accordingly, the Commission has informed the affected parties that their names and logos will not appear on the ballots for the Bayelsa and Kogi governorship elections due to the invalidity of their nominations.”
He said that in compliance with section 34 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), the full names and addresses of all candidates standing nominated would be published in the relevant offices on Monday, Sept. 30.
He said that it would also be made available on the INEC website.
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You Can Accuse Osinbajo Of Anything But Not Corruption, By Fredrick Nwabufo
You can accuse Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo of being ‘’down-to-earth’’, considering his pint-size. You can also accuse him of intellectual exuberance, but you cannot tack corruption to him. It will not stick.
Over the years, the maelstrom of anger against Osinbajo has widened. The reason for this, perhaps, is the perception by some Nigerians that he is not standing up enough for his own – the Christian fold and the south — when it matters. Another reason is the amplification of this perception by some members of the opposition who deploy propaganda to ‘’divisive finale’’.
Osinbajo’s faith and calling – as a pastor – are sometimes juxtaposed with allegations of intellectual dishonesty, pretense and of enshrouding the wrongs in the Buhari administration.
As matter of fact, the vice-president often appears to be singled out for remonstrance for the lapses and controversial policies of the administration.
For example, in June, the vice-president was reported to have told Nigerians in New York that Nigeria had about 112.7million people living in extreme poverty as of 2010 – this was in response to reports of the country becoming the world poverty capital under Buhari.
One of those who drew blood from Osinbajo on account of this was Reno Omokri. The soi-disant “Buhari tormentor’’ vocalised the typical perception. He said the vice-president lies as much as the devil.
He said: “You see that no matter how far and fast Osinbajo’s regular falsehood travels, it will always be overtaken by truth.’’
“I will like to say again that Mr Osinbajo has shown himself to be a man of very base character, who lies as much as the devil that he preaches against and whose behaviour has undermined the faith of genuine believers.”
Really, social media has made it facile to sculpt perceptions. All it takes is for a stentorian voice, with a strong capacity for babble, to make pronouncements on an issue or an individual, and the mob, which operates without the ‘’encephalon’’, go to town and bleat.
It is understandable that there are high expectations of Osinbajo being a man of the robe. But the tendency to diminish him for standing in support of the administration he serves is an act sanctimony.
I think, by being a strong support to Buhari, Osinbajo is giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
Also, before the Ruga programme was pigeonholed, Osinbajo took much of the obloquy for the controversial initiative, even though he had nothing to do with it; he was already working on the National Livestock Transformation Plan with the governors of the 36 states.
The vice-president, eventually, had to issue a statement dissociating himself from Ruga to get the hounds off.
In addition, there is the perception that he is not doing enough or not exerting enough pressure on the administration to secure the release of Leah Sharibu, a Christian girl in Boko Haram captivity.
In fact, this was the core of one of Omokri’s jabs at Osinbajo. As I said, it is understandable, considering Osinbajo’s religious background. But perceptions are not always true.
However, these accusations can be palliated because they are governed by perceptions. But the allegation of financial impropriety and fraud against Osinbajo by some persons border on his personal integrity. They are weighty and damaging.
It is characteristic of our brand of politics, for political actors to casually tag other actors as corrupt even when there is no evidence. Nigeria’s politics is where good and competent men and women get into, and become sectioned as part of the vacuous, predatory corrupt class.
The reason most Nigerians with the aptitude for leadership do not go into politics is for fear of the ‘’tag’’.
Even the principled Oby Ezekwesili was not spared of scandals after bravely stepping into the molten magna that is Nigeria’s politics. Allegations of diverting 153 million campaign funds rippled when she decided to back out of the 2019 presidential contest.
One thing is certain; the hawks are hovering over Osinbajo in Aso Rock. He himself admitted that there are saboteurs working against the government. These recent allegations may be a furtherance of the artifice of those hawks.
Fredrick Nwabufo
@FredrickNwabufo