The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed the request by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to remove Anugbum Onuoha, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Edo State, ahead of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.
Governor Godwin Obaseki and the PDP’s national leadership had called for Onuoha’s removal, alleging that his connections with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory raised concerns about potential bias in favor of the All Progressives Congress.
On Thursday, Anthony Aziegbemhin, Chairman of the Edo State PDP, intensified the issue by submitting a formal protest letter to INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu.
In his letter, Aziegbemhin urged for Onuoha’s immediate redeployment, expressing concerns over Onuoha’s previous roles as Commissioner and Special Adviser for Lands, Survey, and Housing during Wike’s tenure as Governor of Rivers State.
Read Also: Bishop Kukah Sends Important Message To Edo Electorate Days To Governorship Election
“The ties between these two are too close to ignore as they share familiarities and are also close associates. To be clear, the relationship between the two is outlined below:
“The said Edo REC is a cousin to the Minister of the FCT, Mr. Wike. He also served as a former Commissioner and Special Adviser for Lands, Survey, and Housing to Mr. Wike during his tenure as Rivers governor,” the letter partly read.
The controversy heightened after Wike, in a recent interview on Channels TV’s *Politics Today* on Friday, confirmed the familial connection but stressed that Onuoha is fully capable of performing his duties impartially, without any influence from family or political affiliations.
Read Also: Davido Announces Preferred Candidate Days To Edo Governorship Election
In response to these concerns, Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, advised the PDP to concentrate on the electoral process rather than focusing on the REC.
“The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Edo State will not be redeployed. The governorship election will be conducted on 21st September 2024 in 4,519 polling units, not in the REC’s office.
“In the same manner, polling unit results will be declared by the respective Presiding Officers after the voting, ballot sorting and counting processes, in the presence of accredited party agents and other stakeholders.
“The PO will also take a picture of the PU result in each polling unit with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, and upload same to the INEC Result Viewing portal. This process is not the same as electronic voting or electronic transmission and collation of results. The IReV is for transparency purposes. The Nigerian constitution does not yet recognise eletronic voting. Copies of the PU results will be given to accredited party agents.
“Thereafter, the various collation stages will be undertaken before the declaration of the final result at the State Collation Centre in Benin-City.
“The PDP should, therefore, focus on the process, not on the REC or other officials of the commission. The conduct of the election and result collation activity will take place in the open and accredited party agents will witness every step,” Oyekanmi explained.
He also emphasized that the commission would not favor any political party over another.
“INEC does not rig elections. The current commission conducted two governorship elections in Edo State in 2016 and 2020 successfully and nobody accused us of rigging.
“We assure all the political parties, registered voters and other stakeholders that the commission will provide a level playing field and not give any advantage to one political party or candidate over the other,” he added.
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaihFajBadmT29ufud2Z
