The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday rejected the request by political parties to extend the June 3, deadline by two months for them to conclude their primaries and present their candidates for the 2023 general elections.
The 18 registered political parties under the aegis of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), earlier yesterday during the 2022 second quarterly meeting between INEC and political, asked the electoral body to extend the deadline by two months.
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The Chairman of IPAC, Engr Yabagi Yusuf Sani, who is also the National Chairman of Action Democratic Party (ADP), who urged INEC to extend the primaries, said the extension was necessary to help the political parties put things in order for the general elections.
Engr Sani said, “The General Assembly of IPAC, after an exhaustive examination of the INEC timetable and related issues, arrived at a unanimous decision to request for an extension of 37 days to the deadline of the timeframe for the conduct of party primaries and resolution of conflicts arising from the primaries.
“By implication, the IPAC leadership is appealing to the INEC to extend the deadline for the conduct of party primaries and resolution of ensuing conflicts from the present INEC given date of 3rd June, 2022 to 4th August, 2022.”
Responding, the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said, “Already, all 18 political parties have forwarded the schedules of their primaries to the commission, and some have commenced the process of choosing their candidates by conducting ward and local government congresses.”
He said the period earmarked for the conduct of primaries by political parties commenced on April 4 and would end on Tuesday, June 3.
He added that, “I reiterate the position of the commission that there will be no review of the timeline. There are so many inter-related activities that are associated with the timeline which must be carried out.
“Any review to extend the timeline for one activity will affect other activities and put unnecessary pressure on political parties and the commission. This will ultimately result in more complications than what the extension seeks to achieve. Therefore, the commission will not review the timeline.”
