Political parties may not be able to nominate candidates for the 2023 general elections, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to reports, the Presidential and National Assembly elections will take place on February 25, 2023, while the Governorship and State Assembly elections will take place on March 11, 2023.
According to INEC’s schedule, political parties will hold primary elections from April 4 to June 3, 2022.
As a result, the electoral umpire has issued a severe warning to all political parties, stating that “parties must adhere closely to the principles of internal democracy, drawing from their constitutions, rules, the Electoral Act, and other Commission Regulations and Guidelines.”
Festus Okoye, the INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, stated in a statement that candidates for the nation’s 1,491 constituencies must emerge via democratic, transparent, and legitimate primaries.
According to Okoye, the primaries must follow the terms of Sections 29 and 84 of the Electoral Act of 2022.
“If a political party fails to comply with the terms of the Act in the conduct of its primaries, iis candidate shall not be included in the election for the particular position in issue,” the commission cautioned.
As required by law, INEC must supervise all primaries, according to Okoye, since parties must submit the appropriate legal notice in accordance with Sections 82 (1) and (5) of the Electoral Act.
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“Any convention or congress called for the purpose of selecting candidates for any of the elected seats named in the Act shall be rendered unlawful if a political party fails to notify the Commission,” Okoye stated.
According to Section 84 of the Electoral Act, primary elections must be held in the various states
The conduct of primaries outside the constituencies for which parties are nominating candidates, he said, is a breach of the law, and INEC will not monitor such primaries, and the results will be discarded.
Okoye finished by asking political parties to avoid fractious primary elections, which could result in needless litigation and the failure to select and field candidates in some constituencies.
