The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed Enugu East senatorial election following the death of the Labour Party candidate, Oyibo Chukwu.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu at the INEC media briefing in Abuja on Friday.
Yakubu said the election would now hold alongside the governorship polls on March 11.
Investogist reported that Chukwu was killed and set ablaze with five others by gunmen on Wednesday while he was returning from a campaign trip in the Agbani area.
The INEC Chairman said the Labour Party has communicated the death of its candidate, adding that the party also conveyed its intention to participate in the election for that constituency by replacing its deceased candidate which is in line with Section 34 (1) of the Electoral Act.
He explained “The second issue is the unfortunate incident involving the candidate of the Labour Party in Enugu State. I can confirm that we have now received a formal communication from the party informing the Commission of the death of its candidate for Enugu East Senatorial District. The party also conveyed its intention to participate in the election for that constituency by replacing its deceased candidate.
“This request is in line with the provision of the law. For clarity, I wish to quote verbatim the provision of Section 34(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 as follows:
If, after the time for the delivery of nomination paper and before the commencement of the poll, a nominated candidate dies, the Chief National Electoral Commissioner shall, being satisfied of the fact of the death, countermand the poll in which the deceased candidate was to participate and the Commission shall appoint some other convenient date for the election within 14 days.
“The Labour Party has provided satisfactory evidence of the death of its candidate. Consequently, the Commission has suspended the election in the senatorial district as provided by Law.”
“We have already communicated this decision to our Enugu State office. Therefore, there will be no senatorial election in Enugu East Senatorial District made up of six Local Government Areas, 77 Wards and 1,630 Polling Units.
“The election will now be combined with the Governorship and State Assembly elections holding in the next two weeks on 11th March 2023.
“Materials already delivered for the senatorial election will remain in the custody of the Central Bank in the State until the new date for election.”
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
