14 political parties used the dedicated online portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to submit the list of candidates that emerged from their primaries, as at the close of nominations at 6pm on June 29, 2020, the commission says.
The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Fetus Okoye disclosed this in a statement after a meeting of the Commission to deliberate on several issues including the Edo and Ondo end of tenure Governorship Elections as well as the Nasarawa Central State Constituency bye-election.
The statement said in accordance with the timetable and schedule of activities released by the Commission on February 6, 2020, 15 political parties signified their intention to conduct primaries for the nomination of their candidates for the Edo Governorship election.
The conduct of the primaries by Political Parties ended on June 27, 2020.
It said 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 while the particulars of the nominated candidates will be published in the Edo State office of the Commission and simultaneously uploaded on our website on Thursday, July 2, 2020.
The Commission encouraged 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.
It said the final list of duly nominated candidates will be published on August 13, 2020, after withdrawals by candidates and substitution by their Political Parties.
On Ondo Governorship Election, the Electoral Body reminded 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, while the last date for the submission of the names of duly nominated candidates is July 28, 2020.
It also designated till July 6th for the conduct of primaries for the nomination of candidates for the Nasarawa State Central Constituency bye-election.
“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 Parties 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 July 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 6pm on the last date for the submission of nominations,” the statement said.
INEC further harmed on the need for all political parties, candidates, aspirants and supporters to obey all Laws, Regulations and Guidelines, especially in their campaigns, also advocating strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols to ensure the safety and well-being of the politicians as well as that of members of the public.
