- We won’t change March 3 date – EDSIEC
The Edo State’s local government elections, scheduled for March 3, 2018, may no longer hold, The Point has learnt.
Our correspondent gathered that paucity of funds had continued to hamper preparations by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission for the exercise.
It was learnt that the state electoral body had to put many activities relating to the conduct of the council polls on hold because of the non-availability of funds.
A source said that the commission had become “stranded” as it could not carry out the necessary activities in the run-up to the March 3 council polls in the state.
There are fears that the LG polls may not hold as scheduled, unless a miracle happens
An inside source in EDSIEC told our correspondent that lack of funds had made it impossible for the commission to print both sensitive and non-sensitive materials meant for the conduct of the election.
The source further disclosed that for the reason of shortage of funds, the commission could also not embark on the training of its ad-hoc staff that would conduct the March 3 exercise.
He lamented that in spite of the efforts being made by the staff of the commission, particularly its chairman and his commissioners, to ensure successful council polls, the reality on the ground had made the conduct of the polls on the scheduled date unrealistic.
“The EDSIEC chairman and his commissioners are making serious efforts to get the funds needed for the conduct of the polls, but their efforts have yet to yield any result. So, there are palpable fears now that the council polls may not hold as scheduled, unless a miracle happens,” he said.
But the Public Relations Officer, EDSIEC, Hon. Tony Alile, said that the commission was not facing any problem of lack of funds.
Alile assured stakeholders that the commission was working seriously towards the conduct of the council polls on March 3, stressing that nothing would change the date.
He described the rumour of lack funds as the handiwork of the enemies of the state, who did not wish Edo State and Nigeria well.
Alile urged the people of the state to disregard the rumour and rather prepare their minds towards participating in the March 3 council polls.
Meanwhile, a political pressure group, National Rescue Movement, has urged the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission to cancel the result of the recent local government elections in the state.
The Deputy National Chairman, NRM, Mr. Niyi Dada, said in Abuja that the exercise was fraught with irregularities, including under-age voting.
Dada also said that threats to perceived opponents, which forced them to stay away from participating in the elections, constituted a major irregularity during the exercise.
Dada described the polls as “setback and disgrace to democracy in Nigeria,’’ advising that the Nigerian electoral process should not be allowed to derail its democracy.
