Ahead of the February/March 2023 general election the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has indicated that it would reject the candidates nominated by the political that fails to adhere to the timelines for the conduct of the primary election.
The conduct of party primaries, including the resolution of disputes arising from them is scheduled between Monday, April 4, to Friday, June 3, 2022.
INEC also announced that the Presidential and National Assembly elections are slated for Saturday, February 25, 2023, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly polls are fixed on Saturday, March 11 of the same year.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu who made the disclosures at a press conference in Abuja on Saturday to announce the timetable and schedule of activities for the next year’s polls said the timelines were in compliance with the new Electoral Act signed into law by President Muhamadu Buhari on Friday.
Fielding questions from journalists, Yakubu stressed that all political parties must comply with the timetable and schedule of activities released by INEC, saying the Commission will meet with political parties on the development.
He said: Any political party that operates outside the timeline provided by the Commission if it is with respect to parties’ primaries, will not be expected to submit the name of a candidate to Commission.
“These timelines are supported by regulations and guidelines anchored on the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022. So, we expect all political parties to comply.”
The INEC Chairman also allayed fears that it could not transmit results electronically as provided for in the new Electoral Act, saying the Commission has the capacity to upload Polling Units level results to the aerial portal in all the 176,000 locations nationwide.
“From the pilot we conducted, transmitting results to our aerial portal, we have covered all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, we have no challenge, whether it is remote rural places or urban areas in transmitting results. So, we are encouraged by the pilot we have conducted and we have no doubt, the capacity is there for us to transmit results from all the Polling Units,” he said.
Yakubu also having learnt from the experience of previous elections, INEC has improved on the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and there would be no challenges with the devices future elections.
“…we have issues in the FCT Area Councils election but what is happening right now as we speak in four states of the federation, there are no glitches in Cross River, Imo, Plateau, Ondo States. We learnt from the experience of previous elections and we have improved on the functionality of the BVAS. There are no challenges with the BVAS,” he stated.
Yakubu had earlier explained that the 2023 general election was scheduled to commence on February 18, 2023, with the Presidential and National Assembly elections, followed by the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections on the 4th of March 2023 but that has to change due to the arrival of Electoral Act 2022.
He said the Commission has decided to adjust the dates of the 2023 General Election to ensure compliance with the provisions of the new law, adding that with the adjustment, the 2023 general election is now 363 days away from today (Saturday).
Some of the critical activities and their dates of implementation in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for elections are as follows:
Publication of Notice of Election – Monday 28th February 2022; conduct of party primaries, including the resolution of disputes arising from them – Monday 4th April 2022 to Friday 3rd June 2022; Submission of nomination forms to INEC via the online portal for Presidential and National Assembly election – 9.00am on Friday 10th June 2022 to 6.00pm on Friday 17th June 2022; Submission of nomination forms to INEC via the online nomination portal for Governorship and State Assembly elections – 9.00am on Friday 1st July 2022 to 6.00pm on Friday 15th July 2022, and Commencement of Campaign by political parties for Presidential and National Assembly election – Wednesday 28th September 2022.
The activities and schedules also include the commencement of Campaign by political parties for Governorship and State Assembly elections – Wednesday 12th October 2022; Last day of campaign by political parties for Presidential and National Assembly elections – midnight on Thursday 23rd February 2023, and last day of campaign by political parties for Governorship and State Assembly elections – midnight on Thursday 9th March 2023.
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