By Ezeocha Nzeh
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned the 18 political parties that have conducted their primaries ahead of the 2023 general elections that it would not grant any request to extend the July 15, 2022 deadline for nomination of Governorship and States Assembly candidates.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education and Publicity (IVEP), Committee, Festus Okoye stated in a statement said the decision was taken on Thursday at a meeting of the commission.Okoye noted that the meeting deliberated on a number of issues, including the Continuous Voter Registration CVR exercise, the issuance of Certified True Copies CTCs of documents and the commencement of the Uploading of the List and Personal Particulars of Governorship and State Assembly Candidates.
He said; “By the Timetable and Schedule of Activities released by the Commission, Political Parties that conducted valid Governorship and State Assembly primaries shall upload the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates between 1st and 15th July 2022.“We urge political parties to scrutinize the list and personal particulars of the candidates they propose to sponsor at the election to avoid any mix-up and duplication of names. Political parties are advised not to wait until the last day before uploading the list and personal particulars of their candidates. The Candidates Nomination Portal will shut down at 6pm on 15th July 2022.
“Political parties that have challenges with uploading documents should contact the Commission’s Help – Desk, through the dedicated telephone lines or contact the candidate nomination centre at the Commission’s headquarters”.
The statement added that the Continuous Voter Registration CVR will continue nationwide, adding that all Resident Electoral Commissioners and Electoral Officers have been directed to continue with the exercise pending further directives from the Commission.“The Commission has consistently reiterated its resolve to continue to provide electoral services to the Nigerian people and register all eligible Nigerians that are interested in registering. The Commission has yet again deployed additional machines to areas of pressure and will continue to serve the people of Nigeria.
“Furthermore, the case at the Federal High Court relating to the terminal date of the CVR came up yesterday Wednesday 29th June 2022, and based on the request of the Commission, the Court granted an accelerated hearing and adjourned the matter to Monday 4th July 2022 for hearing of the substantive matter. The Commission will give an update after court hearing next week.“The Commission has been inundated with applications for CTCs of various documents. So far, 186 requests for CTCs, some running into hundreds of pages, have been processed. The Commission is working round the clock, including weekends, to attend to all such requests. We wish to assure political parties, aspirants, candidates, and all applicants for CTCs of documents that their applications will be treated expeditiously and will be issued in earnest”, INEC added.
