Even as the All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party display different forms of drama – especially the first – in the process of the governorship primaries, the Independent Electoral Commission has warned them about deadline.
According to the commission, all parties have just 10 days to firm submit their candidates.
INEC’s Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, said this during an inter-agency consultative committee on election meeting on Wednesday June 17.
According to him, the deadline is June 27 for the Edo and Ondo primaries and the commission will not extend it.
He said:
“All political parties interested in fielding candidates for the election are reminded that they must conclude their primaries for the nomination of candidates in the next ten days.
“The deadline is Saturday, 27th June, 2020. I must stress that the date is firm and fixed. There will be no extension of the deadline.
“While the conduct of primaries and nomination of candidates will be the sole responsibility of political parties, our officials will monitor the primaries as required by law.
“Arising from our experience in managing the nomination of candidates for the last two governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states, it is important to draw the attention of political parties to the four mandatory requirements for eligibility of candidates for governorship elections enshrined in Section 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
“A candidate nominated by a political party must be a Nigerian citizen by birth; must have attained the age of thirty-five (35) years; must be a member of, and sponsored by, a political party; and must be educated up to at least school certificate level or equivalent.
“Adherence to these clear constitutional provisions is compulsory in order to avoid the unnecessary litigation that follow the nomination of candidates, some of which are still pending before the courts.
“We must safeguard the process and protect all those involved as voters, INEC officials, observers, the media and even some of the unarmed security personnel deployed to the polling units. Doing so requires our professionalism and neutrality.”
