8 political parties to participate in Benue LG election – BSIEC

Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) says eight political parties will participate in the Oct. 5 local government election.

The Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Richard Tombowua, made this known while addressing newsmen in his office in Makurdi on Thursday.

Tombowua said that the commission had started preparations for the local government election to ensure a smooth exercise.

He said that 14 parties indicated interest in contesting the election, but only eight parties 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 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 that the House of Assembly recently approved the budget for the conduct of the election, and the money had been released to the commission.

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

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

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

Supreme News reports that the Benue House of Assembly had on Sept. 4 approved the sum of N6.64 billion for the election.