The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Friday, October 26, 2018, said there was no submission of candidates list from Zamfara State by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
INEC had barred the ruling party from fielding candidates in the 2019 general elections following its failure to meet with the deadline for conducting and submitting names of its candidates.
Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, who addressed journalists said the fate of Zamfara APC would only be determined by the court where the matter was currently pending.
Yakubu explained that the ongoing publication of the personal particulars of candidates of the various political parties was a requirement for INEC as contained in Section 31(3) of the Electoral Act 2010 in order to give the public an opportunity to view the particulars of those seeking to represent them.
He disclosed that a total of 79 political parties had fielded candidates for next year’s presidential election while a total of 1,803 candidates were jostling for the existing 109 seats in the senate.
For the 360 seats in the Federal House of Representatives, he said there were 4,548 candidates vying for the seats.
“I wish to appeal to the general public to seize this opportunity to view the personal details of the candidates that seek to represent them. The Forms, as completed on oath by the candidates and submitted to the Commission by their political parties, are photocopied and pasted in our State and Local Government offices nationwide.
“This is an opportunity for citizens to ascertain the personal details of the candidates to enable them take informed decisions on election day or even initiate legal action against candidates who they believe have made false claims on their Forms”, he said.
He said the commission would display the register of voters for each polling at the polling units nationwide for one week from 6th – 12th November 2018 for claims and objections by citizens in accordance with the provision of Section 20 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).
“I wish to once again place on record that the voter register is robust. It is also the largest data base of citizens in Nigeria containing names, photographs and biometric details. It is a national asset that should be protected and perfected.
“Ownership of the register by citizens and their involvement in cleaning it up is crucial to our electoral process. I urge citizens to help the Commission during the display. Full details of the procedure for collecting citizen’s observations will be released shortly”, Yakubu said.
He said following the declaration of consequential vacancies in the Toro Federal Constituency in Bauchi State and the Kankia/Kusada/Ingawa Federal Constituency in Katsina State, the commission has scheduled bye-elections on November 17, 2018, including one to fill the vacancy declared by the Cross River State Assembly into Ikom II State Constituency following the death of the member representing the Constituency.
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