The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu has announced the postponement of the senatorial election in Enugu East following the death of the Labour Party candidate.
Speaking at a daily media briefing by the commission ahead of Saturday’s election, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said the exercise will hold with the Governorship and Assembly elections on March 11.
Statement from Chairman of INEC
He said: “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.
Further with the Statement
“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”.
He explained that as a result of the postponement of the election, all parties taking part in the Senatorial election can resume their campaigns which must close 24 hours to election day.
He also said that the Labour Party is expected to conduct its primary for the senatorial district within the next seven days and submit the name of candidate to the commission.
