…Akpabio makes list, Lawan’s name missing as Yobe North senatorial district space blank
…clears Kachikwu despite suspension by ADC, 4,223 candidates to vie for 469 N’Assembly seats
…forecloses substitution of candidates except in event of death
KUNLE OLUTAYO
Presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar; Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi and New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and their running mates have been certified eligible to contest the 2023 general election.
Presidential and vice presidential candidates of 14 other political parties were also cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Despite being suspended by his party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dr. Dumebi Kachikwu was cleared as presidential candidate of the party.
However, despite controversy surrounding the actual candidate of the APC for Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district, INEC listed the name of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the party’s candidate.
But the name of Senate President, Ahmad Lawan was conspicuously missing as the space for APC candidate in Yobe North Senatorial District was left blank.
These names were contained in the final list of candidates for presidential and National Assembly released Tuesday by the Commission pursuant to section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 and item 8 of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Barrister Festus Okoye said the political parties were given opportunity till 15th July 2022 for perfect names of their candidates for national elections pursuant to section 31 of the Electoral Act.
The list published, he said, contains the names of candidates validly nominated for national elections at the close of party primaries and the period earmarked for withdrawal and substitution of candidates.
The list also include names of candidates contesting the 109 senatorial and 360 House of Representatives seats.
Giving a breakdown of candidates, Okoye said “for legislative elections, 1,101 candidates are vying for 109 Senatorial seats and 3,122 candidates for Federal Constituencies i.e. House of Representatives seats, making a total of 4,223 candidates contesting for 469 legislative positions.
“In terms of gender distribution, 3,875 candidates are male, made up of 35 for Presidential and Vice Presidential, 1,008 for Senate and 2,832 for House of Representatives. Similarly, 381 females comprising 1 for Presidential, 92 for Senate, and 288 for House of Representatives are contesting. There are also 11 Persons with Disability (PWDs) in the race.”
He said the list for specific constituencies is published in each State where they are located while the comprehensive nationwide list has been uploaded to the Commission’s website.
However, he said INEC noted the fact that not all the political parties conducted primaries in all the constituencies, submitted the particulars of candidates that emerged from valid primaries or substituted their candidates after fresh primaries within 14 days as provided in section 33 of the Electoral Act.
This, he said “has led to numerous litigations, some of which are ongoing. Where the Commission was served with Court orders by aggrieved aspirants or candidates before the publication of this list, these have been indicated under the remark column.”
According to Okoye, final list of candidates for State elections (Governorship and State Constituencies) will be published on 4th October 2022 as already indicated on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.
The Commission appealed to all political parties to channel any observations on the list of candidates to the it and such must be signed by the National Chairman and Secretary of the political party and supported with an affidavit as provided in section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2022.
