2023: INEC Raises Fresh Concerns, Vows to Disqualify Erring Parties

• The Independent National Electoral Commission gives fresh updates on the 2023 general elections, a few weeks before the close of presidential primaries of political primaries in Nigeria
• This is as the nation's electoral body sent a strong warning to political primaries in Nigeria, noting there's no room for falsification of figures and multiple registrations
• INEC disclosed the commission would verify party delegates' lists included in the registers political parties submitted

Ahead of the primaries of political parties scheduled to end on June 3, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will authenticate the membership registers submitted to it by the parties.

It, however, warns that any political party that falsifies its figures or has multiple registrations on its register may have its candidate(s) disqualified, The Punch reports.

It said whether the parties choose to adopt direct or indirect primaries, the commission would verify their delegates’ lists against the registers they submitted, adding that no infraction would be tolerated from the 18 registered political parties.

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2023: Why PDP disqualified 2 aspirants, list of parameters used during screening

Section 77 of the Electoral Act, 2022 mandates all political parties to maintain membership registers and submit the same to the commission not later than 30 days before their respective primaries.

Subsection 2 of the Act states, “Every registered political party shall maintain a register of its members in both hard and soft copies,” while the subsection 3 reads, “Each political party shall make such a register available to the commission not later than 30 days before the date fixed for the party primaries, congresses or convention.”

Presidential primaries

INEC had fixed party primaries for between April 4 and June 3, and most parties have scheduled their primaries for May. This means the parties have till Tuesday, May 3, 2022, to submit their registers.

INEC declares 106,280 voters in Ekiti, Osun invalid

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In another development, INEC has declared the registration 106,280 voters in Ekiti and Osun States invalid.

According to the electoral body, the affected voters violated the stipulated guidelines for the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.

Legit.ng gathered that in Ekiti 17,640 out of the 40,234 registered voters were disqualified while 88,630 voters were also disqualified in Osun out of the 218,142 new registered voters.

2023: APC chairman Adamu, NWC, governors gear up for presidential guidelines

Internal clean-up within the All Progressives Congress (APC) is delaying the release of the party’s timetable for the presidential, governorship and other primaries ahead of the 2023 general elections, it was learned on Monday, April 11.

The party’s national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu has initiated plans to restructure the party’s secretariat ahead of the primaries, The Nation reports.

Adamu has raised a committee, headed by a former Jigawa state Governor Ali Saad Birnin Kudu, to come up with recommendations that would put the party in better shape.

Source: Legit.ng