2 Days To Deadline, AAC, NNPP Yet To Present Candidates To INEC

Two days to the closure of the Independent National Electoral Commission Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP), the commission has said that the African Action Congress (AAC) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) are yet to upload a single nomination of their candidates for governorship, deputy governorship and State Assembly elections.

The nation’s electoral body stated that the portal was opened on 1st July and will close on 15th July 2022. The national commissioner and chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye disclosed this in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday in Abuja.

In the statement, titled: “Update On The Nomination Of Governorship And State Assembly Candidates For The 2023 General Election And Issuance Of Certified True Copies (CTCS) Of Documents” Okoye said as provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election released by the Commission on 26th February 2022, all political parties that conducted valid primaries are required to nominate their candidates.

So far, he said the Commission has processed 6,995 nomination forms (EC9) uploaded by 16 out of 18 political parties for the constituencies where they intend to sponsor candidates.

The statement reads in part: “However, two political parties, the African Action Congress (AAC) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), are yet to upload a single nomination to the portal.

“The commission hereby reminds all political parties that they have three days left to upload their list of candidates to the ICNP. The deadline is Friday 15th July 2022. The portal will automatically shut down at 6:00 pm on that date.”

Meanwhile, he said the commission has continuously responded to requests for the issuance of Certified True Copies (CTCs) of documents mainly arising from the conduct of party congresses, primaries, and nomination of candidates. The number of requests processed has now risen to 1,662,987 pages of documents.

He said in spite of the commission’s effort, 147 out of 476 requests processed as at today involving 5,646 pages are yet to be collected by applicants.
“The commission appeals to prospective litigants to come forward and collect the certified copies of the documents,” he added.