As Political Parties round off their Primaries for the 2023 general election, today 9th June, 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has activated a Nomination Help Centre, to assist political parties who may be experiencing challenges in submitting their candidates’ list via the dedicated online portal.
The Commission also reminded political parties to adhere to the timeline for submission of the list as stated in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 general election.
Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu who led Journalists on a tour of the Nomination Help Centre, situated at the Media Centre of the INEC Headquarters, Abuja, today, Thursday 9th June, 2022, after declaring open a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), said the Centre will be open 24 hours to receive calls and also download and process the list of nominated candidates from political parties within the stipulated period.
It will be recalled that the Commission had organised a 4-day intensive hands on training for staff of political parties who were nominated by their parties to upload the list of candidates.
In his remarks at the meeting with the RECs, the INEC said; “with this innovation, the Commission has eliminated the physical interface between party officials and INEC staff for the purpose of submitting the list of candidates for the 2023 General Election”.
He reminded the political parties that; “all nominations must be uploaded to the portal on/or before the deadlines. He explained that “the portal will automatically shut down at 6.00pm (1800hrs) on Friday 17th June 2022 for national elections and 6.00pm (1800hrs) on Friday 15th July 2022 for State elections”.
Professor Yakubu explained that; “for the next one week from tomorrow 10th June 2022, all Political Parties are required to submit their list of candidates for national elections (Presidential/Vice Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives) latest by Friday 17th June 2022”
“For State elections (Governorship/Deputy Governorship and State Houses of Assembly), the list of candidates shall be uploaded from 1st to 15th July 2022 as provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election already released by the Commission’.
Professor Yakubu added that “all political parties are required to upload the details of their candidates for each constituency to the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP). To achieve this objective, four officials recommended by each of the 18 political parties were trained on the procedure for uploading the nomination forms to the dedicated web portal. Confidential Access Codes to the portal have already been given to each political party to facilitate the uploading of its nominations”.
He warned that; “for emphasis, the Commission wishes to remind political parties that only the names of candidates that emerged from democratic primaries as provided by Sec. 84 of the Electoral Act 2022 shall be submitted to the Commission. Similarly, the list of all Presidential and Governorship candidates must be accompanied by the names of their running mates (i.e. Vice Presidential and Deputy Governorship candidates) without which the nomination is invalid”.
CVR: INEC CHAIRMAN ASSURES NIGERIANS THAT NO ONE WILL BE LEFT OUT
With the deadline for the suspension of the on-going Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, in sight (June 30th, 2022), leading to a surge at designated registration centres nationwide, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu has assuaged the concerns of eligible Nigerians wishing to participate in the 2023 general election that no one will be left out.
He gave the assurance at the Commission’s meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), held at the INEC Headquarters, Abuja, today, Thursday June 9th, 2022.
Professor Yakubu noted that “as the deadline for the suspension of the current exercise approaches, the Commission has received reports of a surge in the number of prospective registrants that daily throng our State and Local Government Area offices as well as designated centres in many States across the country”.
“I wish to reassure Nigerians that the Commission remains committed to ensuring that all citizens who wish to register are given the opportunity to do so. This is one of the reasons why this meeting has been convened. Already, some of the Resident Electoral Commissioners have requested for more voter registration machines to ease the congestion, ” he said .
As an immediate measure taken by the Commission to address the surge at registration centres, Professor Yakubu said “the Commission will deploy additional machines to areas of need immediately”.
“Thereafter, the Commission will meet to review the progress of the exercise and take further decisions. We will always respond positively to the needs of Nigerians and therefore appeal to all citizens to be patient with the Commission as we strive to serve them better, ” he added.
