Protest rocks Ogun APC over ‘imposition of delegates’

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will discharge 20 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) by June and August this year.

The REC in Niger State, Prof Sam Egwu, revealed that his tenure and that of 19 other RECs would elapse between June and August this year.

He said, “By the end of June, about 20 RECs will leave, and that will include those who have served their second term, and therefore, would not be eligible for reappointment. And in August, another set will also leave.”

Egwu stressed the need for the timely appointment of new RECs to ensure that there was no disruption in the electoral process.

He said building institutions was important to addressing political and electoral problems in the country.

Daily Trust

There was a protest yesterday at the Ogun State secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abeokuta over imposition of delegates.

Aggrieved members of the party in Abeokuta South Local Government Area stormed the secretariat to protest the removal of their names from the delegates list ahead of the party’s primary elections.

The party members, drawn from

reports that some of the affected RECs were appointed or reappointed in 2017.

When contacted, Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi, the spokesman of the INEC wards 5, 8 and 15 in Abeokuta South, lamented that they were sidelined in the list of delegates by party executives led by the Abeokuta South Chairman, Henry Fagbenro.

The plot, according to them, is to give some aspirants soft landing in the primaries.

Speaking on behalf of the aggrieved members, Hon Sharafadeen Ogunwolu called for the intervention of the state executives of the APC.

However, Fagbenro denied substituting members’ names on the

Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, told Daily Trust that the commission was aware of the development and that some of those affected would leave from June or July this year.

He said, “The commission is aware of the development, some of those affected have exhausted their two-term maximum tenure, some have one tenure and can be reconsidered by the federal government. The commission would, at the appropriate time, notify the authorities on the development.”

Responding on the next line of action for INEC in the event of any delay in appointing new RECs, he said, “The administrative secretaries are like permanent secretaries and are capable of holding forth when the need arises.” list of delegates, saying the allegation lacked merit.

He explained that Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, had, through the state’s party Chairman, Yemi Sanusi, directed that the leaders of the 15 wards should be allowed to select five delegates from each ward for onward submission to the party secretariat.

He said, “If these people want to fight, then they should face their ward leaders who nominated five names of members to make the delegates list.”