January 28, (THEWILL) – Ahead of the September Governorship election in Edo State, one of the major parties in the election, the Labour Party, (LP) and its governorship aspirants are at loggerhead as they have rejected the N30m charged as fees for the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms.
The party has scheduled its Primary Election for February 22, but while the aspirants reject the nomination fees, the party insists that any aspirant that cannot pay the amount stipulated may withdraw from the race.
THEWILL recalls that one of the aspirants, UK-based financial analyst, Dr Egbe Omorodion, told journalists in Benin City that all governorship aspirants had rejected the bid and scheduled a meeting for Monday, to take a stand on the matter.
On January 16, LP announced a N30 million fee for nomination and expression of interest forms for aspirants vying for the governorship position in the September 21 election.
The Julius Abure-led National Working Committee announced this during its meeting in Abuja.
The NWC further said that the sale and submission of the forms would be between January 25 and February 11. It, however, exempted female aspirants from paying for the expression of interest form.
The national leadership of the party also said it would adopt the indirect primary on February 22, to choose its party flagbearer for the governorship poll.
The Labour Party (LP) has said that the N30 million it charged for both the expression of interest and nomination forms for the governorship election is the lowest in the country among the three major political parties.
The party, therefore, said any person who cannot afford the fees should not be thinking of contesting in the election.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, who said this on Wednesday in Abuja, also said the guideline for the primaries recently released, as approved by its national leadership, is in line with the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act and the party’s constitution.
“Comparatively, the fee charged by the LP is still the lowest among the three major political parties in the contest. Therefore, any person who cannot afford that fee does not have the capacity to run for the governorship election,” he said.
Explaining the rationale for the amount fixed, Ifoh noted that political party funding is a major challenge and it must also be noted that the sale of forms is a major source through which a political party is funded.
“A lot of issues that may arise as a result of primaries and election itself which has to do with litigation arising from primaries and election itself as well as other logistics issues makes it imperative for the parties to charge that much so that the party can adequately discharge its responsibilities to the party, to the aspirants and to the candidate.
“There is also the cost of conducting the various congresses leading to the emergence of the candidate through the congresses in wards to local governments, culminating into the party primaries,” Ifoh also said.
He added that the guideline released by the party had, no doubt, widened the scope of participation among members of the party, as all of them, from the ward level, will have one role or the other to play in the emergence of the party’s candidate.
“It is consequent upon these, that all members of the party from the ward level will be nominating two delegates each who will converge in their various local government areas to nominate five delegates each that will participate in the primary election scheduled to be held on February 22, 2024, which will produce a candidate for the party,” he said.
PDP to Screen Aspirants on January 29
The National Working Committee, (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has fixed January 29, 2024 for the screening of its Edo State governorship aspirants.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the party’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, also disclosed that a seven-man committee was approved to oversee the screening.
The Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, and former Osun State Deputy Governor, Erelu Olusola Obada, are in the team.
The statement read, “The National Working Committee of our great party, the PDP, has approved your nomination to serve on the Screening Committee.
“The committee will screen all the gubernatorial aspirants for the upcoming governorship primary election in Edo State.
“The screening exercise is scheduled to be held on Monday, January 29, 2024, at the NWC Hall, Wadata Plaza, National Secretariat, Abuja, FCT, by 9am prompt.
“Members of the committee are Caleb Mutfwang as the Chairman; Erelu Olusola Obada (Member); Aminu Shagari (Member); Afolabi Alimi (Member); and Hassan Saleh (Member).
APC Dispels Speculation on Pruning of Aspirants
The Edo State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress, (APC) has given the nod to all those aspiring to contest the governorship election to go ahead and buy their expression of interest forms.
The State Publicity Secretary gave the assurance while briefing newsmen at the party secretariat in Benin City.
Within the last few weeks, speculations surrounding the decisions of the governorship screening committee to prune down the number of aspirants to contest in the February 7 primaries on the platform of the All Progressives Congress have been at the front burner.
The alleged decision of the committee, which was not made officially, dashed the hopes of some aspirants who decided to abide by the decision of the committee and dropped their aspirations.
In a swift action aimed at discouraging discontentment within the party, the state chapter of the party has now doused the tension by asking all aspirants to go ahead and pursue their ambitions.
The criteria used by the committee headed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, Julius Ihonbvere, centered on suitability, track records, and popularity amongst party members.
THEWILL recalls that the special committee set up by the leadership of the APC to reduce the 29 governorship aspirants angling to pick the party’s ticket has concluded its report.
The committee disclosed that six aspirants had scaled the first hurdle and were cleared to commence their campaign and partake in the February 17, 2024, primary election.
Those that have made the list are said to be Dr Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe (Owan East Local Government Area; Prince Clem Agba (Etsako East Local Government Area); Mr. Lucky Imasuen (Ovia North-East Local Government Area); Mr Dennis Idahosa (Ovia South West Local Government Area); Dr. David Imuse (Esan West Local Government Area) and Senator Monday Okpebholo (Esan Central Local Government Area).
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
