A youth group within the Labour Party (LP) in Edo State under the umbrella of Shine Your Eyes Group (SYEG) has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu for adhering strictly to the rule of law in the party’s candidates list ahead of the September governorship election.
The statement by SYEG came in reaction to an earlier one by the state chairman of LP, Kelly Ogbaloi , who faulted INEC’s listing of Oluyinka Faith Alufohai as the deputy governorship candidate to Olumide Akpata.
The group in a statement signed by its chairman, Comrade Jonah Ifada and secretary Osagie Omoregie also knocked Ogbaloi for rejecting INEC final list and told the party that what the electoral body had done was in accordance to the law and deserves commendation.
It noted that what has become the lot and tragedy for the LP in Edo State was a clear reflection of the shambolic primary it conducted in the state where the wishes of party’s faithful were subverted by those entrusted to run the affairs of the party.
Ifada in a widely circulated statement in Benin noted, “Our attention has been drawn to the ranting by the Edo State chairman of the Labour Party, Kelly Ogbaloi, rejecting the nomination of Oluyinka Faith Alufohai in INEC announced final list of candidates as ludicrous.
“We want to state equivocally and remind Ogbaloi that INEC is not like the Labour party and that what INEC has done was in line with the rule of law and deserves commendation for being vigilance and thorough.
“We had warned the LP to play by the rules of the game but they choose to bow to the weight of naira and dollars to subvert democracy and the wishes of our people.
“As stakeholders, we are however confident that the abnormality by the party would be corrected by the court as we have it on good authority that one of the aspirants, Barrister Kenneth Imansuangbon has gone to court to seek interpretation of the constitution as regards issues in the party’s primary.”
Imansuangbon in his petition stated that Akpata committed a horde of offences ranging from giving false information to the acquisition of citizenship of another country, which is a grand departure from the Nigerian Constitution.
He alleged that Akpata while filling INEC Form EC 9 “stated his name to be Akpata Olumide Anthony which is different from and not the same as Akpata Olumide Osaigbovo” which he earlier stated on oath to be his name and under which he contested and won the primary election of the LP.
