By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Inspite of its earlier position not to extend the Timetable and Schedule of Activities especially the timeline for the conduct of political parties’ primaries, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has made a u-turn by granting political parties that are yet to conduct their primaries six days window to do the needful.
This latest development was contained in a one-page statement signed by Barrister Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, after a meeting on Friday between the Commission and political parties under the auspices of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) held at INEC Conference Room, Abuja.
In granting the extention, INEC said it did not schedule any specific activity during this period, adding that the idea is to simply give parties time to compile the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates before uploading same to the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal from June 10 to 17, 2022.
The Commission also added that based on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election, the parties have now pleaded with the Commission to use the 6-day period between June 4 and 9, 2022 to conclude outstanding primaries and prepare to upload the list of candidates and their affidavits on the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal.
The statement reads in parts:
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met with the leadership of political parties today Friday 27th May 2022. Once again, the political parties requested the Commission to review the timelines for political party primaries provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the conduct of the 2023 General Election released on Saturday 26th February 2022.
“Earlier, the political parties had requested for 37 – 60 days extension of the timeline for primaries and the nomination of candidates. The Commission was emphatic that this request could not be granted because it would disrupt other scheduled activities on the Timetable. This position of the Commission has not changed.
However, based on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election, the parties have now pleaded with the Commission to use the 6-day period between 4th and 9th June 2022 to conclude outstanding primaries and prepare to upload the list of candidates and their affidavits on the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal.
The Commission did not schedule any specific activity during this period. The idea is to simply give parties time to compile the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates before uploading same to the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal from 10th – 17th June 2022.
The Commission has decided to allow the request of the political parties since the six-day period does not conflict with the next scheduled activity which is the submission of the list of nominated candidates or any of the subsequent timelines which remain sacrosanct. However, this request is granted in respect of outstanding primaries only without prejudice to those already concluded by political parties. The Commission will not monitor already concluded primaries”.
Meanwhile, INEC has said that after the conduct of primaries, the next critical activity for political parties is the online submission of the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor which shall be accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the candidates indicating that they fulfilled all the constitutional requirements for election into the various offices via the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal.
Also, the Commission said based on past experience, it has decided to train the political party officials to make efficient and effective use of the portal.
“The Commission will train four officials from each of the 18 political parties, making a total of 72 in all.
“Unfortunately, some of the political parties are still yet to submit their nominees for the training. The Commission hereby reminds such parties to do so immediately. The Commission wishes to reiterate that only electronically submitted nominations will be processed.
“Political parties are therefore advised to ensure that their primaries are free of rancour in order to meet the timelines for the remaining activities embodied in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election”.
