INEC has directed the PDP in Abia State to conduct a fresh primary election in the next 14 days. This follows the death of Professor Uche Eleazar Ikonne, its governorship candidate who died on Wednesday.
In directing PDP to replace its governorship candidate, INEC clarified that the deputy governorship candidate of the party could not automatically assume the position of the gubernatorial candidate since the election was yet to start.
According to INEC’s National Commissioner on Voter Education and Publicity, Festus Okoye, PDP has the opportunity of conducting a fresh primary within 14 days, according to the dictates of the Electoral Act.
Okoye said the 14 days started from the day Ikonne died.
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The national commissioner stated, “He (the deputy governorship candidate) can only fly the flag if election has commenced. They have to hold a fresh primary within 14 days of the death and then they submit to INEC.”
The family of Ikonne formally announced the demise of the Abia PDP governorship hopeful yesterday, saying he passed on by 4am at the National Hospital Abuja “after a brief illness”.
Meanwhile, PDP, its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, the governor of Abia State, Dr. Ikpeazu Okezie, governorship candidate of Labour Party (LP), Dr. Alex Otti, and other well-meaning Nigerians have sent their condolences over the incident.
In the statement issued by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, Atiku described Ikonne as an erudite scholar of repute with vast experience in administration, whose contributions in advancing knowledge within the academic community would be appreciated by generations unborn.
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Also, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Ikechi Emenike, expressed sadness over the death of the PDP governorship candidate.
In a statement issued in Umuahia, Emenike said he received “the bad news with rude shock.”
He described the death of his fellow governorship contender as “a sad development for Abia State in the ongoing democratic process.”
As a mark of honour to his fellow contestant, the APGA governorship hopeful announced “immediate suspension of all his political activities, including publication of campaign materials and transmission of radio and TV jingles till further notice.”