2024: PDP Unveils Timetable For Edo Guber Election 

The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has unveiled the much-anticipated timetable for the Edo State 2024 gubernatorial election.  This schedule, released after a joint meeting of the Board of Trustees and National Executive Committee at the party’s headquarters in Abuja, outlines the key activities preceding the election. Key highlights from the timetable include: Aspirants eyeing the governorship seat can obtain nomination forms for N21 million, with a 50 percent discount available for youths aged between 25 and 30; Registration of both existing and new members is set between November 16 and December 7, while the crucial party congress, determining the governorship candidate, is scheduled for February 22, 2024; December 14 marks the deadline for the submission of ward registers to the Directorate of Organisation and Mobilisation; Stakeholders’ consultative meetings with the National Working Group will be held from December 19 to 20; Expression of interest and ad-hoc forms will be available for purchase from January 10 to 16, with January 17 as the final date for their submission; The screening of governorship aspirants by the National Working Committee is set for January 18, 2024; Sales of nomination forms for completed expression of interest submissions will take place from January 19 to 25, with January 27 as the deadline for their submission. The governorship primary is scheduled for February 22, while February 24 is earmarked for appeals related to the primary process.

November Polls: INEC Cautions Political Parties Against Peddling Fake News

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cautioned political parties against spreading fake news, ahead of the November 11 Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo governorship elections. Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman stated this in a statement in Abuja.Oyekanmi was reacting to a statement by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) that INEC was configuring Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines at the Government House, Lokoja, with the intention of manipulating the state governorship election.“The attention of INEC has been drawn to a statement signed by ID Ijele, the Director of New Media of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of the governorship campaign team.“The statement alleged that three staff of INEC are right now maliciously reconfiguring the BVAS machines in the Government House, Lokoja, with the intention of manipulating the Nov.11 governorship election in a part of the state in favour of a candidate. “The story is untrue. The three persons mentioned are not associated with the configuration of the BVAS machines and not even in Kogi at the moment. “Nicholas Ocholi is on his duty post in our Ondo State office in Akure.“Ibrahim Egbunu is attending to a very close family member hospitalised in Abuja, Mohammed Adara retired last year and is no longer a staff of the commission,” Oyekanmi said.He said that the configuration of BVAS was done simultaneously and exclusively in INEC offices in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi by teams deployed from the national headquarters, Abuja. “The public is advised to disregard the story as fake news. “At the same time, the commission appeals to political parties to desist from engaging in malicious rumour mongering of this nature,“ Oyekanmi said.