The Labour Party (LP) has fixed the cost of its expression of interest and nomination form for the 21 September off-cycle governorship election in Edo State at N30 Million.
The party disclosed this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the National Working Committee (NWC) at its meeting on Tuesday approved N5 million as the cost of the expression of Interest form and N25 million for the nomination form.
“Arising from the meeting of the National Working Committee of the Labour Party held on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, under the chairmanship of Barrister Julius Abure, the leadership of the party took far-reaching decisions as regards the guidelines for the conduct of Congress/Primaries to elect candidates for Edo state gubernatorial election. They include:
“NWC approved the sale of forms to every interested aspirant from the state who are Nigerians and indigene or resident in the state.
“NWC approved that the Fees for Expression of Interest shall be Five Million Naira only (N5,000.000.00) while the Nomination Form shall be Twenty-Five Million Naira only (N25,000.000.00),” he said.
Mr Ifoh said the NWC approved the commencement of the sale and submission of forms between 25 January and 11 February,
He added that female aspirants are exempted from paying for expression of interest form only.
There are over 30 aspirants on the platform of the LP in Edo State.
The party got the highest number of votes in the state during the 2023 presidential election with its candidate, Peter Obi, securing 331,163 votes.
President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) got 144,471 votes while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) garnered 89,585 votes.
The PDP is in power in the state.
Primary election
The committee, according to Mr Ifoh, also “approved Indirect Primary election wherein a ward and local government congresses shall hold to elect the flag bearer.”
He said the screening of the governorship aspirants will be held on 14 February while the primary election comes up on 22 February and the resolution of disputes or appeals arising from the primaries on 23 February.
He said the NWC appreciated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which carried out its verification duty earlier in the day and for also commending the leadership of the party for complying with INEC’s rules and regulations.
Vote of Confidence
Mr Ifoh said the committee passed a vote of confidence on the party’s National Chairman, Julius Abure.
“NWC passed a vote of confidence on its National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure for effectively piloting the affairs of the party and giving it a proper direction.
“It noted the milestone the party achieved in the recent general election where it won as many as one governorship, seven Senate, 34 House of Representatives and numerous States House of Assembly seats.
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” It regretted that the number depleted after losing some seats through the courts while also hoping to gain more seats in the coming days through rerun elections.
“The NWC also pledged its loyalty to the national leader and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi for his commitment to the party despite the electoral robbery witnessed in the country recently,” the statement said.
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