The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that the Labour Party and four other political parties will not participate in the 16th of August, 2025 by-elections in Edo State.
This was made known by the Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Anugbum Onuoha, during a press briefing held on Wednesday in Benin City.
Onuoha identified the affected parties as Accord, BOOT Party, National Rescue Movement (NRM), and Young Progressive Party (YPP), in addition to the Labour Party.
He explained that the Labour Party failed to express interest in the elections, while the others did not hold primaries.
According to him, “Labour Party did not notify INEC of its intention to participate in the election and as a result, its primary was not known or monitored by the INEC officials.”
Out of 14 political parties that initially showed interest in contesting the bye-elections, only nine went ahead to invite INEC to monitor their primaries.
Onuoha also said that when INEC staff visited the addresses provided by some of the remaining parties, their offices were locked and inaccessible.
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He said, “Fourteen political parties expressed interest. They gave us their address, we went there and we didn’t see anybody. Those ones include Accord, BOOT Party, National Rescue Movement (NRM), Young Progressive Party (YPP), they closed their office.”
He continued, “Some others invited us, but we got there, their doors were locked. We could not find anyone.”
He further expressed concern about the low rate of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collection. In the seven local government areas where the elections will be held, 101,617 PVCs remain uncollected. A total of 719,504 voters registered, but only 617,887 have picked up their cards.
Despite these issues, Onuoha gave an assurance that the elections would be credible and well-organised.
He said, “The Commission is fully prepared to conduct a transparent and hitch-free elections,” adding that “Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) has been configured, while non-sensitive materials have been deployed.”
The bye-elections are being conducted in Ovia Federal Constituency and Edo Central Senatorial District following the elevation of the previous representatives to the positions of deputy governor and governor of the state.