By The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reviewed the timetable and schedule of activities for the conduct of the 2023 general elections upon the request of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC).
The political parties had previously requested that the electoral umpire shift the deadline for the conduct of primaries from June 3 to August 4. INEC, however, had rejected the request.
On Friday, the leadership of IPAC met with the Commission and pleaded that it extends the deadline for primaries for any date on or before June 10.
Festus Okoye, the Chairman of INEC Information and Voter Education Committee, in a statement, confirmed that the Commission has granted the request of the political parties.
“Based on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election, the parties have now pleaded with the Commission to use the 6-day period between 4th and 9th June 2022 to conclude outstanding primaries and prepare to upload the list of candidates and their affidavits on the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal,” the statement reads in part.
“The Commission did not schedule any specific activity during this period. The idea is to simply give parties time to compile the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates before uploading same to the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal from 10th — 17th June 2022.
“The Commission has decided to allow the request of the political parties since the six-day period does not conflict with the next scheduled activity which is the submission of the list of nominated candidates or any of the subsequent timelines which remain sacrosanct. However, this request is granted in respect of outstanding primaries only without prejudice to those already concluded by political parties. The Commission will not monitor already concluded primaries.”
