The sacked Senator for Kogi West, Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Smart Adeyemi, Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February general elections will return to the battlefield on November 16.
This is as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in compliance with the recent Appeal Court judgement that ordered for fresh election in the Senatorial District after upturning the victory of Melaye has fixed November 16 for the polls.
Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Voter Education and Publicity Committee who announced this Monday in a statement said, the fresh election in the Kogi West Senatorial District will take place simultaneously with the Kogi Governorship election.
Okoye explained that, “this is sequel to the nullification of the Kogi West Senatorial District election conducted on 23rdFebruary 2019 by the Election Petitions Tribunal and its subsequent affirmation by the Court of Appeal which ordered the Commission to conduct a fresh election within 90 days from the date of judgment (11th October, 2019) with all those who participated in it as eligible candidates.
“We appeal to the candidates and political parties to conduct issue-based campaigns. We also enjoin stakeholders to eschew violence and avoid acts capable of creating apprehension or a sense of fear before, during and after the elections”.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met today 21″ October 2019 and considered the timetable and dates of elections for the Sabuwa State Constituency of Katsina State and Kogi West Senatorial District.
The INEC Chief Spokesman also disclosed that the Commission has fixed November 30 for the conduct of the bye-election in Sabuwa State Constituency of Katsina State following the death of Mustapha Abdullah.
According to him, “following extensive consultations with stakeholders and a review of the security situation with the relevant security agencies, the Commission has fixed 30th November, 2019 for the conduct of a bye-election for the State constituency.
“The Commission will issue the Notice of Election on 23rd October, 2019. The conduct of party primaries will take place between 24th October and 6th November 2019 while the last day for the submission of personal particulars of candidates (form CF001) and the list of candidates (Form CFOOZ) is 8th November 2019 by 6pm.
“The last day for the submission of names and addresses of polling agents is 15th November, 2019 and campaigns will end on 28th November, 2019. The detailed timetable and schedule of activities has been uploaded on the Commission’s website”.
James Kwen, Abuja
