The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) warned political parties yesterday that the June 3 deadline for naming candidates for the 2023 elections is still in place chevalier.
The warning came after reports that the commission was being pressured to extend the primary deadline by several weeks.
Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman (Information and Voter Education), reminded political parties that their primaries must be completed within one month of today (Thursday).
According to him, the commission has received notices from all 18 political parties outlining the dates of their conventions, congresses, and primaries.
This is in accordance with Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, according to Okoye.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Serving Overseer of Citadel Global Community Church in Nigeria, obtained the ruling All Progressives Congress’s Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination forms (APC).
On Monday, May 9, 2022, Bakare will make his formal presidential declaration at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja’s Central Business District.
During the 2011 elections, he ran for Vice President against President Muhammadu Buhari as part of the Congress for Progressive Change. He is also the group’s Convener.
“Having had the privilege of serving Nigeria in various nation-building capacities, I intend to take a step further in the service of our beloved country and of you, her worthy citizen,” he said in a statement.
Senator Kabiru Gaya, who spoke on behalf of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, expressed confidence that his principal would win the primary election.
He said the APC platform resonates with democratic tenets, and he welcomed a large number of aspirants to it.
“Democracy is a numbers game,” he explained. Every contestant has met the minimum requirements. Everyone is eligible to compete. However, what we’re saying is that we should look down the line to see who has the best material. I’m confident that if we put them all together, they’ll vote for Osinbajo.”
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“It is left to the party,” he said when asked about his preference for how the party chooses its candidate. If the candidates say this is what they want, I believe it will be a direct primary, with delegates coming to Abuja to vote for a candidate; an indirect primary, on the other hand, may be more bogus and take longer.
“I believe we will do whatever the party and the candidates agree on.” The Electoral Act is extremely straightforward. It mentions consensus, as well as direct primary and indirect primary. That is fair even when everyone agrees.
“When we got to the national chairman’s primary, we only had a small portion of that.” Everyone agreed. All candidates signed a letter expressing their support for Abdullahi Adamu, the national chairman. So, by God’s grace, we simply hope something like that happens.”
Senator Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun Central Senatorial District also entered the presidential race yesterday, promising Nigerians better security.
In Abuja, he announced his intention to run for president of the APC.
“I am officially announcing my candidacy for the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the presidential ticket of our great party, the APC.”
“I do so, aware of the magnitude of the tasks that lie ahead in our country and the sacrifices that anyone who wishes to lead our country into the next phase must make,” he said.
He pledged to build on Buhari’s security achievements.
“In order to accomplish this, I will make human security the fundamental principle and ultimate goal of national security.” “Putting human security first and foremost as a direct principle of state policy would imply that national security and economic development would be the two dominant goals of my leadership,” he explained.
He went on to say that he had spent the previous few months speaking with experts about Nigeria’s security challenges and how they could be addressed more effectively.
Meanwhile, the APC North-South Patriotic Coalition (ANSPAC) has warned the ruling party not to run former President Goodluck Jonathan for president in 2023.
The group, led by Mr. Toyin Rahim, marched peacefully to the party’s secretariat in Abuja, claiming that if the APC chooses Jonathan, it risks losing the election.
The group expressed concern about rumours that some powerful APC figures were courting the former president to join the party and run on its platform.
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“One of the most telling negative consequences of such an action is that the APC lacks anyone of electoral value who can win the election for us unless we smuggle in a former president we defeated seven years ago for his glaring incompetence as president,” it said.
“There are presidential aspirants in the APC today who have a credible pedigree as well as enormous electoral value and capacity.” Smuggling Jonathan into our great party is not only unnecessary; it is also self-incriminating, implying that our party’s performance in office has been worse than that of an administration that Nigerians overwhelmingly rejected in 2015, when they voted APC.
