BEVERLY HILLS, July 12, (THEWILL) – The Independent National Electoral Commission has rejected the candidate submitted for the governorship election of Edo State by the Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the Peoples Democratic Party and accepted Osagie Ize-Iyamu as the PDP flag bearer.
This was disclosed by Nick Dazang, Deputy Director for Voter Education and Publicity, INEC, in an interview with NAN on Tuesday in Abuja.
Ize-Iyamu is the candidate of the PDP faction led by the Chairman of the party’s National Caretaker Committee, Ahmed Makarfi.
Dazang said the decision to accept Ize-Iyamu was informed by the court’s decision on the matter adding that the commission had to reject Sheriff’s candidate based on the fact that it did not monitor the primary that produced the faction’s governorship candidate, Mr. Matthew Iduoriyekwemwen.
“As of this evening, we have received 19 candidates from 19 political parties for the September 10 Edo governorship election,” Dazang said.
“The commission collected the nomination from Makarfi-led faction because he has a court judgment that says INEC should accept his candidate.
“Secondly, you will recall that it is only his own faction of PDP primary that the commission monitored.”
THEWILL recalls that the PDP has been rocked by an internal crisis, with two factions laying claim to the party’s national leadership.
A faction led by Ali Modu Sheriff submitted the name of Matthew Iduoriyekwemwen as its candidate for the Sept. 10 Edo polls, after the Makarfi faction had submitted Mr. Ize-Iyamu’s name.
Also, a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, on July 4, ruled that the May 21 national convention that removed Sheriff as Chairman and constituted the National Caretaker Committee led by Markafi was duly constituted.
Story by David Oputah
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