2023: INEC Gives Political Parties Deadline To Submit List Of Presidential Candidates, Running Mates

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has told political parties in the country to submit their list of candidates for national elections (Presidential/Vice Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives) latest by Friday 17th June 2022.

The INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu gave the directive on Thursday in Abuja during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners.

He emphasized that the portal for the submission of the list of candidates for national elections will automatically shut down at 6.00pm on Friday 17th June 2022.

“All primaries end today Thursday 9th June 2022. 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,” the INEC Chairman declared.

He however added that the list of party candidates for governorship and House of Assembly elections will be uploaded from 1st to 15th July 2022.

The portal for this purpose will shut down by 6.00 pm (1800hrs) on Friday 15th July 2022.

Prof. Yakubu pointed out that in both cases, only names of candidates that emerged from democratic primaries as provided by Sec. 84 of the Electoral Act 2022 shall be accepted.

“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 already provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election already released by the Commission.

“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”.

Continuing, Yakubu said with this innovation, there is no need for physical contact between INEC and political parties over the submission of candidates for the 2023 elections.

He said: “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.

“All nominations must be uploaded to the portal on/or before the deadlines. 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. 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.

“A Nomination Centre has been set up here at the Commission’s Headquarters to receive and process all nominations by political parties, including dedicated telephone lines to serve as Help Desk for any Party that may need assistance. In our avowed commitment to openness and transparency of the process, the media will be invited to the Nomination Center so that Nigerians will see our level of preparedness for the exercise”.