INEC reschedules election in Benue LGA for Tuesday

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed March 21 as the new date for the gubernatorial and state assembly elections in Kwande LGA of Benue.

TheCable had reported how the commission postponed the election in the east and west constituencies of the LGA following a mix-up of election materials.

On Saturday, Sam Egwu, the resident electoral commissioner (REC) in Benue, said ballot papers meant for Kwande east were labelled Kwande west, while those for Kwande west were labelled Kwande east.

He said the mistake only affected the state assembly ballot papers and that voting for the governorship poll would have gone ahead.

However, Shawon Gboko, chairman of the Usar council ward in Kwande LGA, told TheCable that the development frustrated voters and that voting would not hold until the issue was rectified.

In a statement on Monday, the state REC said the mistake had been sorted out and that the election had been rescheduled for Tuesday.

“On behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), I wish to announce that the rescheduled Governorship and State Assembly elections for Kwande Local Government earlier postponed on 18th March 2023 has been rescheduled to hold on Tuesday 21st March 2023,” Egwu said.

“It is important to inform the public that the ballot papers for the State Assembly Constituencies have been reprinted and are ready for deployment to Kwande Local Government Area.

“All stakeholders, political parties and their candidates, security agencies well as the ad-hoc staff engaged for the conduct of the election on Saturday are requested to report for duties.”

The REC noted that a winner of the polls may still be declared if the margin of lead is greater than the number of the projected outcome of votes in Kwande LGA.

So far, the results of 20 out of 23 LGAs in Benue have been declared.