2023: INEC speaks on Senate President Lawan’s candidacy

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has spoken about the Senate President Ahmad Lawan’s candidacy nominated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the senate 2023.

The Commission also responded to the alleged discriminatory stance against the candidates nominated by some political parties for the 2023 general elections.

At the close of the submission of the list of candidates by political parties on June 17, the ruling APC forwarded the names of some of its candidates who reportedly did not participate in its primaries and were therefore ineligible to be on the ballot in the general elections.

The names of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and a former minister of Niger Delta Affair, Godswill Akpabio, who did not participate in the party’s senatorial primaries, reportedly made the list submitted to the INEC by the party.

While Messrs Lawan and Akpabio were pursuing their presidential ambitions, Bashir Machina and Udom Ekpoudom had participated in Yobe North and Akwa-Ibom Northwest senatorial primaries supervised by INEC and emerged winners.

However, in what many considered a double standard, the Akwa-Ibom INEC REC, Mike Igini, declared the inclusion of Mr Akpabio on the list as null and void while Mr Lawan’s ‘emergence’ remains valid despite the continuous resistance of the actual winner, Mr Machina.

From INEC’s explanation, Lawan or any individual in his position is left at the mercy of the candidates who have been legally and constitutionally nominated by their political parties.

In response to the widely discussed controversy which was recently taken further in writing by a lecturer, Farooq Kperogi, an INEC commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, argued that the electoral body has no power to reject the names of candidates sent by political parties.

He said the parties have the rights to hold primaries while INEC is empowered to monitor them to ensure full compliance with the rules and regulations of the land and party.

“INEC has no powers to reject names sent by political parties. Primaries are the sole prerogatives of parties. INEC’s responsibility is merely to monitor the primaries and make sure they abide by their own regulations, the Electoral Act & the Constitution.

“Our power in that regard rests on the fact that our reports are admissible as evidence whenever an aggrieved candidate petitions his party or the courts. It is therefore up to an aggrieved candidate to apply for the Certified True Copy (CTC) of our reports for presentation as evidence that his party did not abide by any or all of the three sets of regulations I mentioned,” the national commissioner noted.

Mr Haruna stated further that INEC has only accepted the names of the candidates as mandated by the 2022 Electoral Act but has yet to make its decision known.

He defended the commission’s acceptance of the names submitted by the APC quoting Section 29 (1).

A part of the section however shows a breach in the same act.

The sub-section states that the lists of the candidates the party proposed to sponsor at the election “must have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the political party.”

Neither Mr Akpabio nor Mr Lawan participated in the primaries conducted by their party.

Meanwhile, INEC spokesperson, Festus Okoye, who appeared on Arise TV on Monday morning, said he has not come across the names of candidates submitted by political parties, viral report has it that the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Yobe North Senatorial District has replaced the name of Bashir Machina with that of Lawan.

While Senator Lawan was battling for the APC presidential ticket, Machina was declared the winner of the Yobe North Senatorial District primary election.

Okoye said that the Commission monitored and has the reports of all the senatorial and House of Representatives primaries, adding that properly nominated candidates must write to INEC with a sworn affidavit, asking for a fresh primary, which would be conducted within 14 days before a replacement can be made.

He further advised Machina and others whose mandates have been taken from them to approach a well-constituted court of law to seek redress since INEC already has the reports from the primaries.

“I completely agree with you that someone who has not contested party’s primary should not be in a position to be nominated as party’s candidate,” Okoye said.

“But now the Independent National Electoral Commission is not in a position as at now to make a determination in relation to what you’re saying or to make a determination in relation to whose name was submitted by a political party.

“The Commission monitored the primaries of different political parties. Their senatorial and House of Representatives primaries and we have our reports. So if somebody emerged from the party primary and someone else’s name is submitted, it is the duty of that particular individual to utilise Section 285 of the Constitution, Section 84 and 29 of the Electoral Act to seek redress in a constituted court of law.

“Moreover, what the law provides is that at the end of this nomination process, if any of the candidates that have been properly and constitutional nominated withdraws in writing and sworn affidavit that the ‘political party that nominated me must and shall conduct fresh primaries within the period of 14 days and then make such replacement.’

“Then the person must do this through a letter submitted to the political party that nominated him with an affidavit indicating that he or she has voluntarily withdrawn. So that is the state of the law as of today.”

Newsflash Nigeria is an online newspaper that is developed and written exclusively for Nigerians. It’s packed with up-to-the-minute Local and National Economy News, Share & Capital Market, Health, Sports, Education, Technology, Business and Opinions.

To make further advert enquiries or place an order, please contact us at [email protected] and +2348053316946 and WhatsApp number 08033546732