Party primaries fixed for June 2-July 4

By Simon Ebegbulem

BENIN—THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has released further guidelines for the conduct of the September 10, 2016 governorship election in Edo State.

According to the commission, party primaries will hold from June 2 to July 4, 2016, while campaigns will commence on June 10, 2016. The official register of voters for the election will be published on August 11, 2016 while the election itself will take place on September 10.

The new Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr. Sam Olumekun, who disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday, said INEC will ensure that it conducts a successful election in the state.

Meanwhile, Governor Oshiomhole has admonished the new REC to flush out corrupt INEC officials who were fingered for allegedly aiding electoral fraud during the last general election.

According to the governor, “ I  welcome you to Edo State and also pray that God Almighty protects you as He has protected your predecessors, guide you, give you wisdom, courage and robust energy to superintend over the preparations and the conduct of the forthcoming election and beyond.

“I am a believer and a preacher of one-man one-vote because for too long the promise of democracy was compromised in our country and my campaign mantra was that you must fight election fraud, not because of me but because of our country. It was clear to me that unless you have an accountable government, poverty will remain endemic and society will remain unsafe.

“But I am happy that several years down the line, we have played our part and contributed our quota to the struggle to entrench real democracy and uphold one- man one-vote. And I am happy you said this: the people must take ownership of this process, not as distant miserable spectators, but as active drivers and participants of the democratic process of which INEC has an extremely critical role to play, like the role of a referee.”