INEC endorses Ize-Iyamu as PDP candidate

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the Edo Sept. 10 governorship election, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Mr Nick Dazang, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Deputy Director for Voter Education and Publicity, disclosed this in an interview with NAN on Tuesday in Abuja.

Dazang said the decision to accept Ize-Iyamu, candidate of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, led by Sen. Ahmed Makarfi was informed by the court decision on the matter.``The commission collected the nomination from Makarfi-led faction because he has a court judgment that says INEC should accept his candidate.

``Secondly, you will recall that it is only his own faction of PDP primarily that the commission monitored,’’ Dazang said.

NAN recalls that the Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the PDP submitted the name of Matthew Iduoriyekwemwen as its candidate for the Sept. 10 polls.

Dazang said the commission had received nominations forms from 19 political parties including the All Progressives Congress (APC).He listed others as: Action Aliance (AA), African Democratic Congress (ACD), Advance Congress of

Democrats ( ACD), Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Citizens Popular Party (CPP), Independent Democrats ( ID) among others.

NAN recalls that INEC had earlier said that it would await final outcome of court cases in deciding on PDP’s candidate for the governorship election in Edo.

The Makarfi’s group, supported by all organs of the party, including the Governors’ Forum and the Board of Trustees, conducted its primary on June 20 in Benin and elected Osagie Ize-Iyamu as candidate.

On June 29, in another primary also in Benin, but was not supervised by INEC as required by the Electoral Act, Sheriff’s faction picked Matthew Iduoriyekwemwen as the party’s candidate for the Sept. 10 election.

It will also be recall that a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on July 4 held that the May 21 national convention that removed Sheriff as chairman and constituted the National Caretaker Committee was duly constituted.

The court also declared that the dissolution of the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee by that convention was valid.

In the judgment, Justice Abdullahi Liman, declared that the appointment of the caretaker committee to oversee the party’s affairs was legal and in line with the provisions of PDP Constitution.