By Jethro Ibileke
By midnight of Tuesday, 12 November this year, Mr. Godwin Obaseki would have completed his two terms of eight years in office as Governor of Edo State. A few hours later, the State Chief Judge, Justice Daniel Okungbowa, wearing his full regalia, will administer oath of allegiance and oath of office to whoever is elected to succeed Obaseki as Governor.
Usually, nothing can and should change that date. Going by the Constitution, there can never be a vacuum in governance, hence, a new Governor must unfailingly be sworn in on that very date. To ensure that nothing interferes with the date and as provided in Section 178 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which stipulates that election into the said office shall be held not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the tenure of the last holder of the office, the electoral umpire has scheduled an election to hold in the state on Saturday, 21 September 2024, in which the new Governor-to-be must emerge.
INEC’s National Commissioner & Chairman (Information and Voter Education Committee) Sam Olumekun, while announcing the election date in a statement on Tuesday 26 September, 2023, explained that party primaries will be held between 1 and 24 February 2024. The list of nominated candidates was slated for submission via the online portal between 4 March 2024 and 24 March 2024, while the final list of candidates was published by INEC later in April.
A total of 17 parties successfully met the above requirements and would be featuring candidates in the crucial election. INEC timetable also indicated that campaign in public by political parties would commence on 24 Apnl 2024 and ends 24 hours before election day on 21 September 2024.
Below are the names of the 17 successful parties and their respective governorship candidates who are eyeing Edo’s top job.
1.Action Alliance (AA): Uwaifo Osaro;
2.African Action Congress (AAC): Udoh Obersifo David;
3.African Democratic Congress (ADC): Obazele Paul Agbone;
4.Action Democratic Party (ADP): Akhime Kingson Afere;
5.Accord Party (AP): Iyere Kennedy;
6.All Progressives Congress (APC): Okpebholo Monday;
7.All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA): Osifo Isaiah;
8.All People Movement (APM) Ugiagbe Odaro Syvelster;
9.All Peoples Party (APP): Areleogbe Amos Osalumese;
10.Boot Party (BP): Osirame Edeipo;
11.Labour Party (LP): Olumide Akpata (SAN);
12.New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP): Azena Azemhe Friday;
13.Peoples Democratic Party (PDP): Ighodalo Asuerinme;
14.Peoples Redemption Party (PRP): Patience Ndidi;
15.Social Democratic Party (SDP): Aner Abdullai Aliu;
16.Young Progressive Party (YPP): Okungbowa Paul Ovbokhan; and
17.Zenith Labour Party (ZLP): Akhalamhe Amiemenoghen.
One of the above named candidates must be sworn-in on 12 November as the new Governor.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has appealed to Nigerians to subject particulars submitted by candidates of the 17 political parties participating in the governorship election to scrutiny.
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, made the appeal in a letter dated Wednesday 27 March 2024, wherein he informed the Edo INEC to display the particulars. He urged members of the public to scrutinize the particulars for possible falsification by the various candidates.
“We appeal to Nigerians to scrutinise the documents. Any aspirant who participated in his/her party primaries with reasonable grounds to believe that the information provided by the candidate is false can challenge the nomination in a Federal High Court as provided in Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022,” Olumekun appealed.