The Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Edo State, Anugbum Onuoha, has issued a strong warning to aspirants and political parties, urging them to halt all campaigning for the upcoming governorship election immediately or face potential sanctions.
The REC made it clear in a statement on Monday in Benin that the commission hasn’t lifted the campaign suspension yet and that parties and candidates should hold off on campaigning until April 24.
He said political parties were not expected to campaign publicly for the primary election as it is an internal affair.
He urged all the political parties and aspirants to pull down billboards, signposts, as well as adverts on television and newspapers.
The REC said, “I am calling on the aspirants and the 16 political parties taking part in the September 21 election to comply with the timetable of the election.
“They are not supposed to campaign publicly for the primary election. It is against the law.
“I will urge them to pull down their banners, billboard and stop running jingles on radio.
“If they do not comply with this directive, we would have no other option than to sanction them.”
Onuoha added that his duty is to write a report and send to the headquarters of the commission, not to announce results as primary election is an internal affair.
“We were present at the APC primary election. We saw what happened and we will present our report to Abuja,” he said.