The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended political party primaries by six days to allow them to complete their campaigns.
INEC met with the leadership of political parties today, according to Festus Okoye, Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, and the political parties requested the Commission to review the timelines for political party primaries provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Conduct of the 2023 General Election released on Saturday 26th February 2022.
“Political parties had previously requested a 37- to 60-day extension of the timeline for primaries and candidate nominations. The Commission was adamant that this request could not be granted because it would cause disruption to other Timetable activities. The Commission’s stance has not changed.
“However, based on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election, the parties have now pleaded with the Commission to use the 6-day period between June 4th and June 9th, 2022, to complete outstanding primaries and prepare to upload the list of candidates and their affidavits on the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal.”
Read Also: Primary: 3 APC aspirants protest alleged irregularities in Ekiti
“During this time, the Commission did not plan any specific activities. “From the 10th to the 17th of June 2022, the idea is to simply give parties time to compile the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates before uploading them to the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal,” he explained.
The commission decided to allow the political parties’ request because the six-day period did not conflict with the next scheduled activity, which is the submission of the list of nominated candidates, or any of the subsequent timelines, according to Okoye.
“However, this request is granted only in relation to pending primaries, and not to those that have already been concluded by political parties.” “The Commission will not be monitoring primaries that have already taken place,” he added.
After the primaries, the next critical activity for political parties, according to Okoye, was the online submission of the list of candidates the party intended to sponsor, which should be accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the candidates indicating that they met all the constitutional requirements for election into various offices via the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal.
Furthermore, he stated that the Commission had decided, based on previous experience, to train political party officials on how to use the portal efficiently and effectively.
Read Also: Court sentences a 52-year-old man to death for murdering his pregnant wife
‘The Commission will train four representatives from each of the 18 political parties, for a total of 72. Sadly, some political parties have yet to submit their candidates for the training. The Commission is reminding such parties to do so right away. “The Commission would like to emphasise that only nominations submitted electronically will be considered,” he said.
