A total of 14 political parties have submitted the list of their candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the September 19 governorship election in Edo State before the stipulated deadline.
Festus Okoye, Chairman of INEC Information and Voter Education Committee disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday night after its meeting to deliberate on the Edo poll, Ondo State governorship election scheduled for October 10 and the bye-election in Nasarawa Central State constituency.
The INEC National Commissioner said the public should go to court if they have reasonable grounds to believe that any information in the affidavit or any document submitted by any candidate was false.
He said, “At the close of nominations at 6 pm on June 29, 2020, 14 political parties used the dedicated online portal of the commission to submit the list of candidates that emerged from their primaries”.
“We encourage members of the public to go through the nomination forms, affidavits and documents submitted by the parties on behalf of their candidates, as any person who has reasonable grounds to believe that any information in the affidavit or any document submitted by any candidate is false, may file a suit at the Federal High Court, High Court of a State or the FCT against such a candidate seeking a declaration that the information contained in the affidavit is false.
“The provisional list of the candidates disaggregated on the basis of name, gender, age and qualification has been uploaded on our website and social media platforms. Furthermore, and as required by law, the particulars of the nominated candidates will be published in the Edo State office of the commission and simultaneously uploaded on our website Thursday, July 2 2020.
“The final list of duly nominated candidates will be published on August 13, 2020, after withdrawals by candidates and substitution by their political parties”.
The commission restated the date for the commencement of political party primaries for the Ondo governorship election and Nasarawa Central State Constituency bye-election, .
“We remind political parties interested in nominating candidates for the Ondo governorship election that the conduct of party primaries will commence on July 2 and end on July 25 2020. The last date for the submission of the names of duly nominated candidates is July 28 2020. For the Nasarawa State Central Constituency bye-election, the conduct of primaries for the nomination of candidates starts today, June 30 and will end on July 6 2020.”
Speaking on the nomination of candidates, Okoye said, “the commission is encouraged by the seamless online nomination of candidates for the Edo governorship election using our newly introduced dedicated portal.
“The same procedure will apply to the Ondo governorship, the Nasarawa Central State Constituency bye-election and all subsequent elections to be conducted by the commission.
“Accordingly, political pities are encouraged to obtain their nomination access codes from the commission for the bye-election and upload the list of their candidates and their particulars to the dedicated portal between July 3 and 7 2020.
“For the Ondo Governorship Election, the commission’s dedicated portal for the submission of the names of candidates that emerge from valid party primaries will open on July 21 and close on July 28 2020.
Political parties are encouraged to submit the list of their candidates on time as the portal will automatically close at 6 pm on the last date for the submission of nominations.
“The commission will like to take this opportunity to again draw the attention of all political parties, candidates, aspirants and supporters on the need to obey all laws, regulations and guidelines, especially in their campaigns. Equally important is the need for strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols to ensure their safety and well-being, as well as that of members of the public.”
