Niger State Independent Electoral Commission (NSIEC) has cleared 10 political parties and 71 chairmanship candidates to participate in the November 1, 2025 Local government Council election in the state.
The commission also recruited 10,000 ad-hoc staff for the electoral exercise.
The chairman of NSIEC, Engr. Mohammed Jibrin Imam, told LEADERSHIP in an interview on Thursday in Minna that 69 vice chairmanship candidates were also cleared for the exercise. He however said two vice chairmanship candidates were not cleared.
He also disclosed that a total of 654 councillorship candidates would participate in the election.
Imam reiterated that the commission was committed to the conduct of free, fair and credible election in the 25 local government areas of the state
Giving a breakdown of parties and candidates who were cleared for the polls, the NSIEC chairman disclosed that APC had 25 chairmanship candidates and vice chairmanship candidates each.He added that the party also had 274 councillorship candidates.
He said the PDP had 24 chairmanship candidates, 23 vice chairmanship candidates and 240 councillorship candidates. The SDP has 16 chairmanship candidates while Zenith Labour Party has only 2 councillorship candidates.
He disclosed that the NNPP camp that submitted candidates for the election was not recognised by INEC while the INEC-recognised camp did not conduct primary and couldn’t submit any candidate for the election.
Imam said that all is set for the scheduled exercise, noting that 14 out of 15 stages has almost been completed and that logistics arrangements is being put in place.
He disclosed that over 10,000 ad-hoc staff have been recruited for the conduct of the exercise with their logistics and security covered
On election in insecurity prone areas, the umpire said the commission was liaising with security agencies in the state for security coverages to ensure hitch free elections.
