BREAKING: PDP, APC, Others May Shift Presidential Primaries As INEC Extends Deadline
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday announced the extension of the deadline for political parties to conduct their presidential primary election.
The electoral body extended the deadline after massive pressure from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Political parties under the aegis of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) after failing to get INEC to extend its June 3 deadline for the conduct of political parties’ primary elections, have now asked the commission to consider a one-week extension.
INEC in a statement obtained by Naija News granted the extension for six days for political parties to conclude primary activities.
Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee, who signed the statement, said: “Earlier, the political parties had requested for a 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“.
He said 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 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.
According to Okoye, INEC m did not schedule any specific activity during this period. He said the idea is to simply give parties time to compile the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates before uploading the 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”, he stated.
After the conduct of primaries, INEC said 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.
“In addition, the Commission, based on past experience, 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”, he stated.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News
