The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday released the credentials of the candidates nominated by political parties taking part in the forthcoming by-elections in four states.
National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee for INEC, Festus Okoye, disclosed this in a statement.
The by-elections are scheduled March 14 to take place in Niger, Kwara, Sokoto, and Jigawa States.
The by-elections are for Magama/Rijau (Niger) and Babura/Garki (Jigawa) federal constituencies, as well as Patigi (Kwara) and Kebbe (Sokoto) state constituencies.
In the statement, Okoye said: “In line with the provisions of section 31(3) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), the Commission has published the Affidavit containing the personal particulars (Form EC9E, formerly Form CF001) of and documents submitted by all candidates nominated by political parties to participate in the respective constituencies.
“The Commission has in addition uploaded the said Form EC9E and the attached documents on its website (www.inecnigeria.gov.ng).”
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A total of 10 political parties are expected to participate in the election, the statement said, listing them as: Accord, African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives Congress (APC), All People’s Party (APP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), African Action Congress (AAC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The commission called on any person or persons wishing to challenge the information contained in the published documents to do so.
“The commission wishes to draw attention to the provision of Section 31(5) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which entitles “any person who has reasonable grounds to believe that any information given by a candidate in the affidavit or any document submitted by that candidate is false to file a suit at the Federal High Court, High Court of a state or FCT against such person seeking a declaration that the information contained in the affidavit is false,” Okoye said.
He assured that the commission was determined to conduct free and fair elections in accordance with extant laws while working with critical stakeholders to ensure the peaceful conduct of the exercise.
He equally appealed to all eligible voters in the respective constituencies to go out and exercise their franchise on the day of the elections.
