Reps Seat: We Didn’t Monitor Imo PDP Rerun Primary – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission has clarified that it did monitor the re-run primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party in Aboh Mbaise-Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency of Imo State.

A Federal High Court in Owerri had sacked Albert Agulanna who emerged as the PDP candidate for the 2023 House of Representatives election in the federal constituency.

The lower court also ordered that a fresh primary be held in the federal constituency within the next 14 days.
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But the Public Relations Officer of INEC in Imo State, Dr Chinenye Osuji, at a media briefing in Owerri, the state capital, said the commission did not monitor any re-run primaries as ordered by the Court.

He said, “Any political party that decides to conduct its primaries in the absence of INEC is an effort in futility. INEC has to be present to monitor the exercise. If PDP decides to conduct the re-run primaries for Aboh Mbaise-Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency without INEC’s involvement, they know what they have done. So, it’s not for us to say.

“The head of the Election and Political Parties Monitoring (EPM) department has said that there was no directive from the headquarters to observe the exercise. Maybe PDP didn’t write the Commission in good time for whatever reason, I can’t really say. You can reach the EPM for further clarifications on the subject matter.”