ANT petitions EC over Ojok’s candidature

The Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) party candidate, Mr Oscar Kiiza, has petitioned the Electoral Commission (EC) to nullify the candidature of Mr Andrew Ojok, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party flagbearer, over illegal nomination.

On Tuesday, Mr Kiiza, during an interview with journalists in Gulu City, claimed Mr Ojok had been nominated irregularly. 

He said the name with which Mr Ojok used in the exercise differs from the one on his academic papers.
Monitor could not independently verify the claim by press time.

Mr Kiiza has now given the EC until Friday to clarify on the matter before he sues them.

“The NRM candidate was nominated in connivance with the EC. When I perused the files of all the candidates,

I realised they (EC) nominated Mr Ojok who only had a National Identity Card to his file while the other academic papers are not his because he doesn’t have backing documents to prove,” Mr Kiiza said.

“I have notified the EC that the candidacy of the person (Mr Ojok) that they nominated as the NRM candidate should be cancelled. The academic papers that Mr Ojok is parading belong to somebody else. We confirmed Andrew Ojok O and O can mean any other name,” Mr Kiiza said.

Monitorhas seen a May 16 petition authored by Mr Kiiza to the returning officer for Omoro District, Mr Moses Kagona.

Academic papers

“The person nominated as Ojok Andrew Oulanyah does not exist. He has instead attached and is using academic papers for Ojok Andrew O,” the letter reads in part.

“These two persons; ‘Ojok Andrew Oulanyah’ and ‘Ojok Andrew O’ are not one and the same, hence it was irregular and illegal for a person without academic papers to be nominated,’’ it further states.

Mr Kiiza faulted the EC for allowing the nomination of a candidate illegally.

“The purported swearing on Oaths of a non-existing person on the nomination forms could have only occurred under collusion, connivance and concealment between the person holding out as “Ojok Andrew Oulanyah” and the commissioner for Oaths, the returning officer,” the letter states.

 Mr Kiiza also accuses Mr Ojok of presenting a doctored resignation letter from NITA-U to the EC.

However, in an interview after a campaign rally in Akidi Sub-county, Mr Ojok declined to comment on the matter, stating that he had not yet been served a copy of the petition.

“I don’t have and I have not seen that petition officially, so I cannot comment on that, but once we receive it, we shall draft a defence,” Mr Ojok said.

He stated that the petition was baseless and malicious.  “I believe we are on our path to victory, those who see that they are losing already are trying to create all ways to fight and disorganise us.”

EC response

The Electoral Commission has said they are meant to sit at the end of this week with the concerned parties to hear the complaint.

“We have received a complaint at EC, we shall meet the concerned parties on Thursday and hear from them,” Mr Paul Bukenya, the EC spokesman, said.

“When we conduct nominations, we provide for inspection of candidates’ nomination files. The EC has powers to hear and determine any complaints arising out of nominations,’’ Mr Bukenya added. 

Candidates

Six candidates are vying for the seat and they include FDC’s Justine Odong Obiya, National Resistance Movement’s Andrew Ojok Oulanyah, Simon Toolit Akecha of the National Unity Platform, Alliance for National Transformation’s Oscar Kiiza, and Independents Jimmy Walter Onen and Terrence Odonga.