A total of 837 governorship candidates and their running mates from 18 political parties are vying for the 28 governorship positions due in 2023, while 10, 231 candidates are vying for 993 state assembly seats.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, disclosed this in a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman of, the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, announcing the “Publication of Final List of Candidates for State Elections (Governorship and State Assembly),” on Wednesday.
According to the commission, the publication of the final list for state elections was “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.”
INEC said the publication of full names of candidates standing nominated for state elections follows the political parties’ conduct of primaries and completion of the nomination exercise.
“It will be recalled that at the end of the process, political parties that conducted valid primaries uploaded the list and personal particulars of all nominated candidates to the Commission’s candidate nomination portal and the subsequent display in their constituencies nationwide as provided by Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act.
“Subsequently, validly nominated candidates had the opportunity to voluntarily withdraw their candidature by notice in writing and personally delivered such notice to the political party that nominated them for the election. Thereafter, political parties substituted such candidates under section 31 of the Electoral Act for which the last day was 12th August 2022 for State Elections as clearly provided in item 6 of the Commission’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities.
“Thereafter, no withdrawal or substitution of candidates is allowed except in the event of death as provided in section 34(1) of the Electoral Act or pursuant to an order of a Court of competent jurisdiction.
The commission said the list published contains the names of candidates validly nominated for state elections at the close of party primaries and the period earmarked for the withdrawal and substitution of candidates.
It noted that the list for specific constituencies is published in each state where they are located while the comprehensive nationwide 894-page list has been uploaded to the commission’s website.
“Political parties are required to channel any observations on the list of candidates to the Commission and such must be signed by the National Chairman and Secretary of the political party,” it said.