Count Down To Imo Local Government Election: Parties Extend Closing Dates For Sale Of Nomination Forms

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Imo State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress, APC, has announced an extension to the closing date of the sale of its Chairmanship and Councilorship expression  of interest and nomination forms for the forthcoming local council polls in the State.

This is even as its main rival, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,  said it has extended the sale of forms from Monday July 22 to July 26 2024.

The Imo State Independent Electoral Commission has fixed Local Council Election in the State for September 21, 2024.

The State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, had earlier assured of a level playing ground for all Parties in the election.

A statement issued by the APC, Imo state Chapter spokesperson, Cajethan Duke, informed that the sale of the  party’s nomination forms will now be closed on July 24, instead of the initial dateline of Monday July 22, 2024.

The Source reports that through out last week, many of the intending aspirants, both for Chairmanship and Councilorship were complaining about the exorbitant costs of the forms.

The APC has fixed the cost of expression of interest form at one million Naira and N200,000 for chairmanship and councilorship respectively .

The Party similarly pegged the Chairmanship nomination form at over N3 million, while that of the Councilorship is N700,000.

The development has not been well received by many of the intending aspirants,who until the late  last week, were still protesting against the high cost of the forms.

But an impeccable party source revealed that it is meant to discourage frivolous aspirations and at the  same time prune the number of aspirants to a manageable level.

“You know the Governor has made it clear that ,he will not want to interfere with the whole exercise from the party level down to the election proper .

“He is serious about organizing a free, fair and credible Local Government election. So, because of his posture, many people even from the opposition parties have decided to come out.

“But the APC wants to control, the party arrangements so as to avoid unnecessary rancour at the primaries”, a Party stalwart stated .

However, as at the time of reporting, it was not yet clear if the party had come down from the initial costs of the forms.

The APC statement also called on all aspirants to visit any of the branches of the UBA for payments for the expression of interest/ nomination forms.

In the same vein, the PDP  in a statement issued by its Organizing Secretary, Gozie Nwachukwu, advised all aspirants to avail themselves of the new closing date.

The party initially had scheduled to end the exercise on July on July17,  2024.

All things being equal, expectations are high that the conduct of the polls, will represent a marked departure from the experiences of the past,particularly in the areas of  fairness and participation on the part of opposition parties.