INEC Break Silence on Uduaghan’s Candidacy

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has broken its silence over an Abuja High Court judgement that nullified the senatorial ticket of the immediate past Governor of the state, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Dr. Cyril Omorogbe who briefed journalists in Asaba, today,February 20, 2019, on the preparedness of the commission for the rescheduled elections said they are not aware of any court judgement against Uduaghan.

He said, “I am only aware of the case of eight wards in Burutu that later came to 10. We have postponed the matter until after elections. I will not talk much about the court case in Ethiope West (involving Hon. Halim Agoda, a former member of the House of Representatives and Chief Edojah) until I get information from the high command of the commission. We are not aware of any other judgement.”

He said the electoral materials that were sent to Asaba INEC Headquaters from Abuja were turned back because they were labelled with misleading addresses.

“We found out that some materials that were labelled Edo came to Delta. Others that were with minor errors, like hand-written corrections, were also rejected and returned to Abuja for appropriate ones”, the REC said.

The REC denied that his deployment to Delta was influenced by the National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, and wondered whether he is a staff under the party chieftain.

He said the postponement of last Saturday presidential and national Assembly elections was in favour of the commission, maintaining that the commission has since converted it to its advantage, insisting that the “the reconfiguration of the card readers was to enhance its performance.”

Earlier, Uduaghan had through his Media Assistant, Monoyo Edon, debunked his disqualification and said he remains the authentic candidate for the Delta South senatorial election for the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday, this week.

He said the court had no time ordered the electoral umpire to delete his name from the list of contestants in the election.

“We wish to clarify that His Excellency, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, was never aware of the case nor was he a party to the case and was never joined in the alleged suit.

The court had no time ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove the name of Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan from the list of candidates in the election.

“Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan has instructed his lawyers to take necessary legal steps on the matter, even as he enjoins APC party faithful and supporters to come out en mass to vote the party and all its candidates to victory in the elections.

We wish to state categorically that His Excellency, Dr. Uduaghan remains the candidate of the APC for Delta South and we are confident of winning the election.”