INEC Removes Chime, Alao-Akala As Candidates For April Poll

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 08, (THEWILL) - The names of Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State and his counterpart in Enugu State, Mr. Sullivan Chime were today erased from the lists of candidates eligible to contest in the April general election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The move came as a huge surprise to the two governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and political pundits as both Alao-Akala and Chime were earlier listed to contest the governorship election in the lists made public by the electoral commission on Monday.

INEC said it removed the governors as candidates following court injunctions which as a law abiding institution it is bound to obey.

The delisting of Alao-Akala came just after he was handed the PDP Governorship flag for Oyo State at the South-West rally of the Jonathan/Sambo campaign held in Ibadan.

Explaining INEC’s action, National Commissioner in Charge of Legal Services, Mr. Phillip Umeadi told reporters that the names of the governors made the INEC list in error. He said their names ought not to have been published in the first instance.

Umeadi said the commission had received the PDP lists before the court orders were served the commission.

He also noted that the commission has received several court injunctions as aggrieved aspirants have continued to seek redress in courts.

A similar court injunction also stopped INEC from giving its clearance to the Governor Gbenga Daniel’s faction of the PDP in Ogun State.