For Equality And Equity: Apostle Ngozika Ogbuneke Asks INEC to Extend The Polling Agents Deadline Till First Week of February

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) gubernatorial candidate, Apostle Chief Dr Ngozika Johnson-Ogbuneke has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the deadline for the submission and or uploading of polling agents till the 5th of February, 2023 to enable parties and her candidates gather all their polling agents and upload same.

Apostle Chief Dr Ngozika Johnson-Ogbuneke in a letter made available to our correspondent, pointed out that, it was wrong for INEC to have relied on its circular of 2021 on her official website as a means of disseminating information instead of directly writing to all candidates or their political parties.

So, she’s asking the commission to give them an ample time to enable them exercise their franchise by extending the date and should also consider the network issues most telecommunication companies have been experiencing in recent time.

Read her full text below;

I, Apostle Chief Dr Ngozika Gladys Johnson-Ogbuneke, the Abia State Governorship candidate under the Social Democratic Party, this Day- 20/01/2023, plead and call on the INEC to allow the closing date for uploading the Polling Agents for the Forthcoming Elections, to be till 05/02/2023, which is 3 weeks before the Election of 25th of February.

INEC owes a duty of care to have written to all the candidates of the parties, to receive DIRECTLY from them the Notices of their initial deadline of 18/01/2023, rather than her reliance on her circular of Year 2021 to effect this deadline.

As of Year 2021, none of the current candidates of each Political Party has emerged and it remains clouded and unfair to hold any of us nor the various Parties to that date.

Yes, I thank INEC for extending the Polling Agent deadline from 18/01/2023 to 20/01/23. However, this piecemeal extension by 2days is ineffective for anyone to compile and upload all the mountainous work of gathering information of the Polling Agents and uploading those to the INEC portals.

Some Political Parties here in Abia State (I will speak about), are paying a lot of money UPFRONT to persons to be their Polling Agents. Some of these Parties have long being in Government and had accesses to the State treasuries and wherefore that INEC refuses to reconsider and grant us QUANTUM and reasonable extension of the deadline even till 05/02/2023, to ensure that everyone is able to gather and upload their Polling Agents, she has already granted unequal playing field in this Political contexts.

I hereby, wish to let the INEC know that I have the right to be well represented at the Polling Units by Polling Agents as uploaded by the SDP under which I am running.

Denying me the time to gather and upload these Polling Agents tantamount to disenfranchising me and my Party, the SDP from the Governorship race in Abia State.

As a Human rights lawyer, I find grace to fight for and defend the rights of others and it will be unthinkable that I will accept for my own rights to be denied of me.

I have written an application to INEC, through Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam, the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, requesting and pleading for good conscience, that the deadline of the works on the Polling Agents be reasonably extended till 05/02/2023.

INEC is also aware that the SE Nigeria is on Sit-At-Home restriction every Monday, thus meaning that here in Abia State we work 4 days per week than 5 days; yet the same rules are being applied nation wide.

Whilst I applaud the INEC on much of the positive things that they have brought into law by electoral reforms, the BVAS and electronic voting system, I will still continue to plead with them to allow my application for the deadline of collecting and uploading the Polling Agents to be extended till effectively till 05/02/2023, as any earlier date leaves some of us at such unequal platforms which cannot make for a fair nor free elections.
Thank you