The senatorial by-election to replace the late Sen Gyang Dantong, has been fixed for Oct. 6.
Mr Bencyn Ikpe, INEC Public Affairs Officer in Plateau, told newsmen in Jos that ``the process of selecting or electing a candidate by the political parties must be supervised by the commission.”
``Outside that, any other process adopted by the parties are illegal.''
Ikpe, however, said that the Oct. 6 date arrived at at a parley with political stakeholders and security agencies, was tentative and needed to be ratified by the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
He said the date would help the electoral body to arrive at a realistic timetable.
``We are already working on a time table, but we cannot release it until we get a confirmation from Abuja.
``But we need such tentative dates to be ready to notify political parties at the appropriate time on when to start off of campaign activities, collection of nomination forms, submission and then date for final election,” he added.
``Until Abuja confirms the timetable and date, no political party is expected to start any activity of any sort, including holding primary elections.''
He, however, said that individuals, who have interest in emerging as their party's candidates, were not barred from making internal arrangements toward achieving their ambition.
Reports have it that two aspirants, Mr Gyang Pwajok of the PDP, and retired Col John Dungs, former Delta military administrator, have already declared their intention to vie the vacant seat.
Pwajok, until his declaration, was Chief of Staff of the Plateau Government, while Dungs is yet to establish a platform for his ambition.
Dungs told journalist at an interaction recently that he was waiting on his people, who called him into the race, to direct him to the right party since PDP appeared to have decided on Pwajok even before any primary election.
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