Let see how legal it is at the end
“…As expected , the governor sent a request to his hypnotized House of Assembly to amend the local government act and approve his list of hatchet hungry team as members of the electoral commission. Not disappointing the expectations of the people, the assembly passed the amendment and confirmed the list in a record 45 mins…*
*”The commission members were sworn in on Wednesday 23rd March and on Thursday 24th, they released an election time table obviously prepared by the governor and handed over to them…*
*”What the governor and his co-travellers fail to understand is the fact that candidates for elections must be sponsored by political parties. The parties, like the PDP which he belongs, have their constitutions that guide the nominations of candidates.*
*The PDP Constitution, provides expressly how candidates for Council chairmanship should emerge. There must be guidelines issued by the NEC of the party. The delegates to the primaries are specified. The 3-Adhoc delegates per ward must be elected in special ward congresses to be called by the party. Anything short of these steps will be contrary to the Constitution of the party and therefore a nullity. It is obvious that these steps cannot be taken and adhered to within the timeframe published by the governor for the elections…*
Amb. Tony Okonigene writes from Benin
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