The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC says 14 out of 18 political parties have nominated 472 candidates for 68 elective positions in next year’s Area Councils Election in the FCT.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Thursday in Abuja at the second quarterly meeting with political parties on the resumption of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) scheduled to commence later this month across the country.
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This is as he said that all the nation’s 18 registered political parties have expressed interest to participate in the Anambra State governorship election, and have scheduled their primaries for the election in line with the dates provided for in the timetable released by the commission.
According to him, closely tied to the expansion of voter access to PUs is the resumption of the CVR, including the creation of a portal that will enable Nigerians to commence their registration online before concluding the process physically at designated centres and that the commission has fixed Monday 28 June 2021 for the exercise to commence nationwide.
The INEC boss who expressed displeasure over non-compliance with party constitutions in the nomination of candidates by some political parties urged the party leaders to always allow the will of party members to prevail to avoid litigations after elections.
“In the case of the FCT Area Council elections, political parties have concluded their primaries for the 68 constituencies made up of six Area Council Chairmen and 62 councillors.
“A total of 14 out of 18 political parties have nominated 110 candidates for chairmanship/deputy chairmanship positions and 362 candidates for councillorships. Altogether, 14 political parties have nominated 472 candidates to vie for 68 elective positions in the FCT,” Yakubu said.
He commended the contributions of the parties towards the just concluded conversion of Voting Points (VPs) to Polling Units (PUs) to bring the total number of the PUs in Nigeria to 176,846.
He stressed the need for political parties to comply by submitting their Edo and Ondo governorship election financial reports to the commission as stipulated in Section 92 and 93 of the 2010 Electoral Act (as Amended).
In a remark, the National Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Dr. Leonard Nzenwa, expressed dissatisfaction over the destruction of INEC property in some parts of the country and urged the leaders of political parties to support INEC in strengthening democratic system in the country.
Nzenwa, who is also the National Chairman, African Action Congress (AAC), commended INEC for breaking the 25 years jinx in the creation and expansion of PUs in the country and pledged the council’s resolve to support initiatives that would enhance democratic governance in Nigeria.
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