- says only candidates submitted electronically would be processed.
Published By Political Editor
All political parties that are yet to conclude all their primaries must do so within the next six days and upload the list of their candidates as well as their affidavits on the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal for processing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Friday.
A statement signed by the INEC’s Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee Bar. Festus Okoye said the extension applies strictly to primaries that had not been conducted as it would not entertain any appeal to review or repeal any activity that had been concluded by the political parties as part of activities relating to the 2023 general elections.
According to Okoye, the extension was granted because the Commission did not schedule any specific activity during this period, adding; “the idea is to simply give parties time to compile the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates before uploading same to the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal from 10th – 17th June 2022.
“The Commission has decided to allow the request of the political parties since the six-day period does not conflict with the next scheduled activity which is the submission of the list of nominated candidates or any of the subsequent timelines which remain sacrosanct.”
He said the request was granted “in respect of outstanding primaries only, without prejudice to those already concluded by political parties, as the Commission will not monitor already concluded primaries.”
These were part of the resolution of a meeting with the leadership of all the 18 registered political parties to review the timelines for political parties primaries as provided in the timetable and schedule of activities for the conduct od the 2023 general election released by the agency on Saturday, February 26, 2022.
“Parties can now use the six days period between June 4th and June 9th to conclude all outstanding primaries and prepare t upload the list of candidates and their affidavits on the INEC candidates’ nomination portal.
He said the parties request for a 37 -60 days extension of the timeline for the primaries and the nomination of candidates was resisted by the agency because it would disrupt other scheduled activities on the timetable.
According to Okoye, after the conduct of primaries, the next critical activity for political parties is the online submission of the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor, which shall be accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the candidates indicating that they fulfilled all the constitutional requirements for election into the various offices via the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal.
In addition, the Commission, based on past experience, has decided to train the political party officials to make efficient and effective use of the portal.
“The Commission will train four officials from each of the 18 political parties, making a total of 72.
Unfortunately, some of the political parties are still yet to submit their nominees for the training. The Commission hereby reminds such parties to do so immediately. The Commission wishes to reiterate that only electronically submitted nominations will be processed.”
Political parties are therefore advised to ensure that their primaries are free of rancour in order to meet the timelines for the remaining activities embodied in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.
