***As commission rues high cost of litigations
BY EZEOCHA NZEH
The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has declared that only six out of the 19 registered political parties have so far presented candidates for the September 21 governorshiip election in Edo state
The Commission noted however that the remaining three political parties still until March five more days to complete the process of filling the governorshiip election candidates submission portal, insisting that the portal would be shutdown on March 24 adding that the commission would not extend the timeline for the nomination of their candidates.
This is even as the commission has rued the high cost of servicing the various court cases facing it, blaming the political parties of causing the rise in election related litigations facing the commission
INEC chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, who made the disclosure on Thursday, during his opening speech at the meeting between the commission and political party executives, blamed the parties for the rise in litigations that trail elections in Nigeria following the manner the political parties grant waivers to new entrants into their parties to get their tickets at the expense of others. This he said has caused INEC much in litigations
He said; “Already, party primaries for the Edo State Governorship election have been concluded. By the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election, political parties have 20 days to upload the list and personal particulars of their candidates to our dedicated portal.
“We have trained party Liaison Officers and established a Help Desk for political parties. The portal opened on 4th March 2024 and will automatically shut down at 6pm on Saturday 24th March 2024.
“Two weeks later, only six parties have uploaded their nominations to the portal. We urge you to keep to our schedule of activities and avoid last minute rush that may undermine your ability to successfully nominate your candidates.
“There will be no extension of time beyond the deadline already published in the Timetable and Schedule of activities for the election, to enable us publish the personal particulars of candidates (Form EC9) on 31st March 2024 as required by law”.
He further reminded the political parties representatives that the Ondo State governorship election, party primaries would begin in the next two weeks on 6th April 2024 and ends three weeks later on 27thApril 2024
“I urge political parties to adhere strictly to your proposed dates and modes of primaries. Frequent changes as we witnessed recently during the Edo primaries are not only disruptive but costly. The Commission cannot mobilize, demobilize and remobilize our officials for the monitoring of party primaries at the convenience of political parties. Parties should stick to their proposed dates and modes of primaries for certainty and optimal deployment of resources.
“Similarly, political parties should avoid acrimonious primaries. Increasingly, the conduct of parallel primaries and the emergence of multiple candidates is a frequent occurrence. So too is the tendency to grant waivers to candidates who were a few days earlier card-carrying members of other political parties and nominating such persons to the Commission as their candidates for election.
“Some of these infractions lead to unnecessary litigations among party members in which the Commission is always joined as a party. The legal fees and cost of producing Certified True Copies CTCs of documents can be used more productively in other electoral activities by both the political parties and the Commission. We must find a solution to this situation”, he stressed.
