Meanwhile, the candidates’ nomination portal for presidential and National Assembly party flag bearers will shut down on June 17, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.
In his address yesterday in Abuja at the INEC press corps one-day forum on Ekiti and Osun States’ governorship elections, the national commissioner and chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, urged political parties to comply with the deadline.
Okoye also said that the commission will close the portal for governorship and state assemblies’ nominations on July 15.
Speaking further, he said that “any political party that failed to upload the list and personal particulars of its nominated candidates will not have a candidate for that particular position.”
On the regulation of political parties, Okoye said that section 29 of the Electoral Act gave political parties a total of 180 days to submit to the commission the list of the candidates the party proposed to sponsor at the elections, who must have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the party.
He said, “Parties must be diligent in the screening of their candidates and any political party that presents to the commission the name of a candidate who does not meet the qualification stipulated in section 29 of the Act commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N10 million.”
He further noted that any political party that nominates a candidate that is not qualified has constitutionally excluded itself from submitting any name to the commission, adding the Commission will not violate the intent of the Constitution by accepting such nomination.
Tunde Oguntola
Tunde Oguntola is an award-winning journalist with over 10 years of experience in print and broadcast media. He is also a political correspondent and public affairs analyst.
His Twitter handle is @TUNEXOguntola
