The Independent National Electoral Commission has published the final list of political candidates for the 2023 general elections.
INEC made the publication known on Tuesday in a press statement signed by Festus Okoye, its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee on Tuesday.
According to INEC, the Commission approved the final list of candidates for national elections at its regular weekly meeting held on September 20, 2022,
The list of Presidential, Senatorial and Federal Constituency candidates was published pursuant to section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 and item 8 of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.
What INEC is saying
INEC noted that not all the political parties conducted primary elections in all the constituencies. However, the list published contained names of candidates that were validly nominated.
- “The list published today contains the names of candidates validly nominated for national elections at the close of party primaries and the period earmarked for withdrawal and substitution of candidates. The final list of candidates for State elections (Governorship and State Constituencies) will be published on 4th October 2022 as already indicated on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.
- “We note the fact that not all the political parties conducted primaries in all the constituencies, submitted the particulars of candidates that emerged from valid primaries or substituted their candidates after fresh primaries within 14 days as provided in section 33 of the Electoral Act.
- “This has led to numerous litigations, some of which are ongoing. Where the Commission was served with Court orders by aggrieved aspirants or candidates before the publication of this list, these have been indicated under the remark column.
The Commission revealed that all the 18 political parties fielded candidates and their running mates for the Presidential election.
- Giving details in numbers it said, “For legislative elections, 1,101 candidates are vying for 109 Senatorial seats and 3,122 candidates for Federal Constituencies i.c. House of Representatives seats, making a total of 4,223 candidates contesting for 469 legislative positions. In terms of gender distribution, 3,875 candidates are male, made up of 35 for Presidential and Vice Presidential, 1,008 for Senate and 2,832 for House of Representatives. Similarly, 381 females comprising 1 for Presidential, 92 for Senate, and 288 for House of Representatives are contesting. There are also 11 Persons with Disability (PWDs) in the race.
- “The list for specific constituencies is published in each State where they are located while the comprehensive nationwide list has been uploaded to the Commission’s website.”
INEC urged all political parties to channel any observations on the list of candidates to the Commission.
It added that the observations must be signed by the National Chairman and Secretary of the political party and supported with an affidavit as provided in section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2022.
