The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued a new warning to political parties, stating that the deadline for submitting candidate names and running mates is set in stone for Friday.
Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, issued a new warning on Monday in Abuja.
He went on to say that any political party that has held primaries is not obligated to submit the names of any candidates, and that the Commission will not interfere with that because it is their prerogative.
“On or before June 17, 2022, all registered political parties must submit a list of their presidential and vice presidential candidates, as well as National Assembly candidates, under constitutional, legal, and administrative obligations.” This date is known to all political parties, and it is set in stone.
“The Commission educated four staff members from each of the 18 registered political parties on how to use the Commission’s Candidate Nomination Portal. We’ve established a Candidates’ Nomination Centre and a Help Line for political parties.
“A political party that has held primaries is not required to submit a candidate’s name.” He added, “It is their prerogative, and the Commission will not interfere with it.”
Meanwhile, the North East APC Youth Stakeholders’ Forum, an All Progressives Congress (APC) group, has pleaded with the ruling party’s leadership to consider a North East indigene for the position of the party’s running mate.
“While appreciating our party loyal members, especially from the North-West and North Central zones,” the group’s leader, Haruna Adamu Sardauna, told reporters in Abuja on Monday, “we are appealing for their special consideration of the North-East zone for the position of APC’s running mate in the 2023 general election.”
“From the beginning, the North-East region has consistently given the APC block votes and supported candidates from other regions. Considering the current pathetic situation in which the region finds itself due to insurgency and other forms of social unrest.
“Zoning the running mate’s position to the North East neutralises the PDP presidential candidate and mobilises massive support from the region and other Zones to ensure Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s victory.”
“We, therefore, appealed to our critical and non-critical national, state, and non-critical stakeholders, particularly our father, President Muhammadu Buhari, our candidate, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, and the APC National Working Committee (NWC) led by Senator Abdullahi Adamu,” they said.
