THE Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to shift the date for the conclusion of party primary preparatory to the 2023 elections.
Ortom said the action conflicted with the INEC’s earlier stand that it would stick to its earlier time-table.
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Ortom said at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, where the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is holding its presidential primary that the PDP had lost confidence in INEC as an impartial umpire to conduct free, fair and credible elections.
“INEC insisted that they would never shift the date for submission even by one day. So, why the sudden change? That gives us some loss of confidence in INEC,” he said.
The governor also said the APC’s decision to shift its presidential primary was because it lacked ideas to manage its affairs and lead the nation rather than an action to outsmart the PDP.
He maintained that the APC always copied the PDP’s ideals, adding that 70 per cent of the APC members were from the PDP.
Ortom boasted that the PDP was the party to beat in the 2023 elections.
The INEC had on Friday approved the extension of the deadline for the conduct of parties’ primaries and submission of nominated candidates for the 2023 elections by political by six days.
The commission took the decision after meeting with political parties, which the INEC said requested the extension.
But the PDP kicked against the extension.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2022. Contact him via email @ [email protected].