2023: INEC Reacts as Political Parties Seek Adjustment of Elections Timetable
- Earlier, 18 political parties are believed to have requested the adjustment of the timetable for the polls
- The parties after close examination of the 2023 timetable, are demanding an extension of party primaries to August
- But in reaction, the chairman of the INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu maintained the timetable for party primaries would not be adjusted or reviewed
Despite the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act, eighteen registered political parties under the auspices of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) have called for the adjustment of the timetable for the 2023 general elections.
Meanwhile, the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) published the timetable for the 2023 elections shortly after the 2022 Electoral Act was signed into law.
INEC reacts
But INEC chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu in reaction to the call said there would be no review of the timeline for the party primaries, The Nation reports.
Source: Facebook
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The main timetable
He reminded the political parties that the period earmarked for the conduct of primaries by political parties commenced on Monday, April 4, 2022, and will end on Friday, June 3, 2022.
Yakubu disclosed that all 18 political parties have forwarded the schedules of their primaries to the commission “and some have commenced the process of choosing their candidates by conducting Ward and Local Government congresses”.
According to him:
“Therefore, the Commission will not review the timelines. Working together, we should ensure fidelity to the timelines in conducting transparent and democratic primaries for the purpose of electing candidates for the 1,491 constituencies for which elections will be held on 25th February and 11th March 2023.”
Those who attended the meeting
In attendance at the meeting were;
- All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman Senator Abdullahi Adamu;
- APC National Secretary Senator Iyiola Omisore;
- PDP National Chairman, Professor Iyorcha Ayu;
- PDP National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu;
- All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) chairman Victor Oye, among other political party leaders.
INEC chairman to join presidential race? Commission clears air
The chairman of INEC, Prof Yakubu Mahmood, had no plans of joining the 2023 presidential race.
This was disclosed by the electoral commission in a statement shared on its official Twitter handle on Sunday, May 8.
Reacting to comments and insinuations in some quarters that Mahmood may just surprise Nigerians by picking the presidential nomination forms, the commission declared that “It will not happen”. It added that it is a preposterous proposition.
The statement partly read:
"The chairman remains an umpire committed to free, fair and credible elections. His constitutional responsibilities as the Chief Electoral Commissioner of the Federation and Returning Officer for the presidential election are onerous enough for him to even contemplate straying into extraneous matters at variance with the law, morality and his personal principles."
Godwin Emefiele loses as court refuses his request to restrain INEC from disqualifying him
In another development, a Federal High Court had refused Godwin Emefiele’s request to restrain INEC and Abubakar Malami preventing him from his Presidential ambition.
Emefiele said that he can run for the post of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria without vacating his position as the CBN governor.
He insisted that Section 84 ((12) of the Electoral Act as amended, 2022 does not affect him, being a public servant and not a political appointee.
Source: Legit.ng
