Fourteen days after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lifted the ban on public campaigns for the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, three key contenders for the presidency are yet to flag-off their campaigns.
While the trio of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (APC), Peter Obi (LP) and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (NNPP), are yet to formally commence their campaigns for the presidency, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, on Monday flagged off his campaign in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.
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Daily Trust reports that INEC on September 28 lifted the ban on public campaigns to enable the candidates and their political parties to sell their candidatures to voters ahead of the February 25 elections.
Section 94(1) of the Electoral Act provides that campaigns shall last for 150 days.
APC
The delay in the commencement of the APC campaign is as a result of the crisis within its fold over the composition of the presidential campaign team as stakeholders have been holding various meetings.
In one of the meetings attended by some governors who are members of the APC, the National Working Committee (NWC) and other stakeholders, the party’s national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, said the party would lose the 2023 poll without the input of its governors.
Prior to the opening of campaigns by INEC, the secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, James Faleke, had released a 422-member list of the council.
But the development triggered heavy bashing and resistance from party stakeholders, including the National Working Committee (NWC) and governors who are members of the party, as they claimed they were not carried along in the scheme of things.
Some governors were said to be aggrieved on the grounds that their nominees were not included in the campaign council.
Sequel to the acrimony that greeted the list, the director general of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, in a statement, announced the postponement of their inauguration to pave way for the inclusion of more party stakeholders.
But the spokesman of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN), told our correspondent yesterday that the final list would be released this week, after which a date for the formal commencement of campaign would be announced.
Responding to an enquiry by our correspondent in a WhatsApp message, the campaign spokesman said, “The other list will be released this week. Then the date (for campaign kick-off) will be announced.”
Labour Party
In Labour Party, a conflict of interests between some stakeholders in the party and the presidential candidate, Peter Obi, might be responsible for the delay in commencing its campaign.
A source told one of our correspondents that, following the growing influence of the presidential candidate, various interests are now fighting to be relevant in the scheme of things.
Reacting to the development, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Comrade Arabambi Abayomi, told Daily Trust that the party has ample time to put its campaigns together, adding that “Labour Party cannot be compared to the two main political parties that will soon go into extinction because Nigerians have rejected them.
He said: “Our campaign council will be holistic, it is going to be all-inclusive, not people that move from APC to PDP at all times. We are the only party that has a manifesto; we have ample time to kick-start our campaign.
“Because of the yearning of the people for positive change, we have to include everyone; that is the reason we have not put together our campaign council. But between now and the next few days, we are going to inaugurate our campaign council. We remain the party to beat,” he said.
NNPP
The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) is yet to constitute its presidential campaign council and kick start electioneering rallies even as INEC lifted the ban on campaigns about two weeks ago.
Though the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Dr Agbo Major, had told the Daily Trust that the party’s campaign would be flagged off in one of the North Central states last Wednesday, that did not happen.
A well-placed source in the party, however, told our correspondent that the campaign council will soon be inaugurated and campaigns will kick off.
He said the delay was due to logistics issues as the party was still tidying up the presidential campaign headquarters in Abuja, and once it is fixed properly, it will be open for use, the council will be constituted, and they will start work there.
He said unlike other political parties whose delay to commence campaigns was due to internal wrangling, NNPP has no such crisis and will soon flag off its campaigns.
Campaigns for gov’ship race begin today
Meanwhile, public campaigns for governorship and state houses of assembly will commence today, according to INEC’s timetable for the 2023 general elections.
Daily Trust reports that 837 candidates have been cleared for the governorship race. They are competing for 28 state governorship seats.
It also reports that governorship elections will be held in 28 states. The elections in Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Kogi, Imo, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun states have been pushed out of the general election circles.
By Ismail Mudashir, Saawua Terzungwe, Baba Martins & Terkula Igidi
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