Eight parties field candidates in Benue LG elections – Official

BSIEC says 14 parties indicated interest in contesting in the election, but only eight fielded candidates

The Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) says eight political parties will participate in the 5 October local government elections in the state.

The commission chairman, Richard Tombowua, disclosed this to journalists in his office in Makurdi on Thursday.

Mr Tombowua said the commission had started preparations towards the elections to ensure a smooth exercise.

He said 14 parties indicated interest in contesting in the election, but only eight had fielded candidates.

According to him, the eight parties are the African Action Congress (AAC), All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Labour Party (LP).

Others are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

He said the House of Assembly recently approved the budget for conducting the election, and the money had been released to the commission.

Mr Tombowua said that 21 vehicles had been bought, and sensitive and non-sensitive materials had also been paid for.

“The commission has awarded the contract for the production of sensitive and non-sensitive materials, and some of those materials have been received.

“There are pending programmes that would start from Sept. 21 to Oct. 5, which is the day of the election, and arrangement has been made for training of ad-hoc staff, starting from Sept. 26,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Benue House of Assembly approved N6.64 billion for the election on 4 September.