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Legal Troubles: INEC Suspends Bye-Election In Ese-Odo/Ilaje FC In Ondo State

Posted: Apr, 30 2014, 12:04PM

By SaharaReporters, New York

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended the supplementary election in 59 polling units involved in the April 5, 2014 disputed Ondo State Ese-Odo/Ilaje Federal Constituency.
In a statement (today), the commission said its decision followed a suit by the Labour Party against it and seven others at the Federal High Court in Akure asking to be declared the winner of the bye-election.
The commission recalled that at the end of collation of results in the original election, the Returning Officer had declared the process inconclusive because the election did not take place in certain polling units while results of the election at some other polling units were cancelled on account of violence.
“The Labour Party had a total of 23,926 votes while the PDP had a total of 22,628 votes with a difference of 1,298 votes,” the statement said. “The total number of registered voters in the 59 polling units where election did not take place or was cancelled due to violence is 28,952. Consequently the difference in the number of votes earned by the leading candidate and the runner-up (1,298) is less than the number of registered voters who did not have the opportunity of voting at the election (28,952) representing over 16% of the total number of registered voters. The Returning Officer rightly declared the election inconclusive.”
INEC said it subsequently decided to conduct a supplementary election in the 59 affected polling units to conclude the process, in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and its guidelines for the election.