The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has released the final list of candidates that will contest the governorship and Houses of Assembly elections in 28 states of the federation in the 2023 elections.
Festus Okoye, the INEC’s national commissioner and chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, announced the release of the final list in a statement on Wednesday, October 5.
The list contained 18 political parties that fielded 837 candidates and their running mates for the 28 governorship elections.
Also, according to the list, 10,231 candidates will vie for 993 seats in the state assembly elections.
The list also included the names of the running mates to the governorship candidates from the 18 political parties billed to participate in the poll.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng notes that Nigeria’s two leading parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the lead opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, currently do not have governorship candidates in two states: Ogun and Akwa Ibom.
PDP in Ogun state
INEC indicates on the list that the PDP in Ogun state does not have a governorship candidate yet in Ogun state as a result of a court order.
Recall that the Federal High court sitting in Abeokuta recently decided on a suitcase filed by the three members of the PDP and nullified all the primaries conducted by the PDP in the state.
Unlike the PDP, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and its candidate, Governor Dapo Abiodun, made the list.
APC in Akwa Ibom state
There is also no governorship candidate for the APC in Akwa Ibom on the Wednesday list by INEC.
Akan Udofia, who recently defected to the APC from the PDP, was announced as the party’s governorship candidate on May 27.
However, his name is missing from the list following the crisis in the state chapter of the party and the refusal of INEC to monitor the primary which produced him.
It, therefore, rejected his candidacy in line with the Electoral Act 2022. Unlike the case of the PDP in Ogun state, where INEC indicated that no candidate was listed due to court order, the electoral body didn’t provide any reason on the list where no governorship candidate featured for the Akwa Ibom APC; the space was simply left blank.
INEC releases final list of candidates for presidential, senatorial and House of Reps elections
INEC, on Tuesday evening, September 20, published the final list of presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives candidates for the 2023 general elections.
In a statement, the commission said it approved the final list of candidates “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”.
According to INEC, there are 18 presidential candidates for the 2023 general elections. For the National Assembly elections, 1,101 candidates are vying for 109 Senatorial seats and 3,122 candidates for House of Representatives seats.
