The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said it did not substitute the governorship candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, in Ondo State.
It said the alarm raised by one of its governorship aspirants was false.
Festus Okoye, the INEC national commissioner for Information and Voter Education said in a statement on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, that aggrieved aspirants who have issues with nominations should take their cases to the leadership of their parties.
The statement said: “On July 31, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, published the provisional list of candidates for the Ondo State Governorship Election scheduled for October 10 at its state office in Akure and also uploaded same to its website and social media platforms.
“The list contains the names of the governorship and deputy governorship candidates submitted by 17 parties, including the African Action Congress, AAC, at the close of nomination on July 28. However, one of the aspirants in the primaries of the party accused the commission of substituting his name as the rightful governorship candidate of the party, while another aspirant claimed that the commission substituted his deputy governorship candidate.
“Contrary to these assertions, INEC did not substitute the name of any aspirant or candidate. The commission received only one submission from the AAC through its dedicated online portal for candidate nomination. There was no human interface. The names uploaded on the portal by the parties were the same names published. The commission only receives the names of candidates and running mates from the national headquarters of parties, duly signed by the national chairman and national secretary.
“Aspirants, candidates, and state branches of parties with issues or challenges relating to their nominated candidates should approach and resolve such issues with the national chairmen and secretaries of their parties.”
