Edo: INEC gives parties June 29 deadline to submit candidates list

The 15 political parties participating in the September 19 governorship election in Edo State have been given till 6pm on Monday, 29th June 2020 to submit names of their candidates.

This is as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) warned that it will not extend the June 27 deadline for conduct of party primaries.

The Chairman of the Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, reiterated this warning on Wednesday during the second consultative virtual meeting of the Inter – Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).

Yakubu said: “Turning to the Edo Governorship election, 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 (10) 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.

“Similarly, there will be no extension of time for political parties that fail to submit the names and other details of the candidates that emerge from their primaries using the dedicated portal created by the Commission”.

Arising from INEC’s experience in managing the nomination of candidates for the last two governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states, the chairman said 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).

Reeling out the requirements, he said: “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 litigations that follow the nomination of candidates, some of which are still pending before the Courts.

“In fact, one of such cases involving the attempt to substitute an ineligible candidate by one of the political parties was determined only yesterday by the Supreme Court in favour of INEC.

As the two governorship elections approaches, Yakubu said the Commission and security agencies will remain proactive during the party primaries, electioneering campaigns, voting and eventual declaration of results.

“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. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we should also ensure compliance with the protective measures contained in the recently published Commission’s policy as well as the advisory by health authorities”, he said.

He said at the last meeting held on Friday 5th June 2020, it was agreed that the Co-Chairmen of ICCES (i.e. the Chairman INEC and the National Security Adviser) should prepare and circulate a draft Code of Conduct for security personnel on election duty based on the report of the Special Committee earlier set up to ensure collaboration and synergy in the deployment of security agencies for elections.