* LP Boycott Election

From Tony Icheku in Owerri


The Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC) has confirmed that Imo State Local Government Council elections holds on Saturday September 21, 2024 with 303 (Three hundred and three) chairmanship candidates and 3,381(three thousand three hundred and eighty-one) councillorship candidates from 14 political parties participating in the elections.


However the Imo State chapter of the PDP which is fielding the  maximum number of 27 chairmanship and 305 councillorship candidates respectively in the election has berated the ISIEC for not keeping to its own guidelines. In a press statement, the PDP State chairman, Hon. Austin Nwachukwu, criticized ISIEC for not publishing the list of voters in the wards as required by law,  three  days to  the election and further alleging that the commission attempted to extort  PDP’s Councillorship and Chairmanship candidates of  N50,000 and N200,000, respectively.  “We want to inform the people of Imo and Nigerians at large that the State government and ISIEC are not prepared for the election—they are only interested in rigging it. But Imo people will not allow this to happen. The government is known for falsifying results, hijacking electoral materials, violating electoral guidelines, and intimidating the people of Imo. But this time, it will not stand. Enough is enough", the statement read 



However, the  ISIEC Chairman, Mr Charles Ejiogu during an interactive session with newsmen pledged to conduct a free and fair election, assuring of a level playing field for all political parties.


Subsequently, he said that the election will take place in all 305 wards and 4,758 polling units across the State, ISIEC has assured while affirming that  the September 21, 2024 scheduled date for the election remains unchanged and sacrosanct. 


 Ejiogu assured Imolites and all aspirants from various political parties that his commission is poised to deliver a credible election that is fair to all contestants, promising to provide a level playing field for all political party participants. 


The ISIEC boss revealed that the revalidation of all aspirants who are party candidates is currently ongoing noting that it is left for the political parties to screen their aspirants while the commission revalidates those already screened by the political parties.


He added that the training of the commission’s 15,000 adhoc staff  alongside other preparations for the smooth conduct of the election are on course


Regarding the voter’s registers,  Ejiogu revealed that the commission will use the voter’s registers from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which will be displayed at each polling unit on election day, explaining that for security reasons, they will not paste the register until the election day.


He also noted  that election observers who are in  numerous  have already been screened and accredited by the commission. 


THISDAY reports that a major opposition party in the State,  the Labour Party has however boycotted the elections with the State Chairman of the party, Mr Callistus Ihejiagwa writing off the election as a sham arguing that processes leading to it are in contravention of the guidelines of the Electoral Act and other relevant laws 


The PDP reiterated that ISIEC may not be working according to its own guidelines and proffered that in the last meeting between the Commission and political parties,  the  ISIEC  Chairman, Chief Charles Ejiogu, along with his full complement of Commissioners, informed stakeholders that he had been invited by the State’s security heads to discuss security concerns regarding the election.


“In that meeting, held in Oguta, the ISIEC Chairman told us that security chiefs had expressed doubts about the safety of lives and property on election day, especially given the recent violent attacks and security breaches that left no fewer than 20 innocent citizens dead and properties worth over 1 billion Naira destroyed,” he said.


PDP revealed that thereafter, the ISIEC Chairman has neither briefed the political parties on the outcome of his meeting with the State security heads nor provided any further information on the conduct of the election based on the discussions with the political parties.


“In that same meeting, we discussed the fees for DF001 and DF002 (for Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates), but no agreement was reached.


“However, to our shock, on the night of September 16, 2024, we were alerted to a document circulating on social media, purportedly from ISIEC, signed by the Chairman, inviting candidates to its office on Orlu Road for validation.


“When we went to investigate this morning, we were surprised to find ISIEC was only demanding N50,000 from Councillorship candidates and N200,000 from Chairmanship candidates in place of the purported validation.


“We are appalled that ISIEC has yet to officially brief political parties as required by law or release any information regarding these matters.


“Where in the world does an electoral commission engage with candidates without involving the parties that nominated and sponsored them? This is illegal and has no basis in law. Even more troubling is that these actions violate ISIEC’s own guidelines", he affirmed