The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced June 17, 2022 deadline for the submission of list of presidential candidates and their running mates, as well as candidates for the National Assembly, by all the political parties.

Specifically, it warned that the dedicated portal for the submission of list of candidates for national elections will automatically shut down at 6.00pm (1800hrs) on Friday 17th June 2022.

And for the governorship and House of Assembly elections, the list of candidates shall be uploaded from 1st to 15th July, 2022.

INEC’s deadline

INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu made the announcement at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) Thursday in Abuja.

He said only the names of candidates that emerged from democratic primaries as provided by Section 84 of the Electoral Act 2022 shall be submitted.

Yakubu said: “All primaries end today Thursday 9th June 2022. For the next one week from tomorrow 10th June 2022, all Political Parties are required to submit their list of candidates for national elections (Presidential/Vice Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives) latest by Friday 17th June 2022.

“For State elections (Governorship/Deputy Governorship and State Houses of Assembly), the list of candidates shall be uploaded from 1st to 15th July 2022 as already provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election already released by the Commission.

“All political parties are required to upload the details of their candidates for each constituency to the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP). To achieve this objective, four officials recommended by each of the 18 political parties were trained on the procedure for uploading the nomination forms to the dedicated web portal.

“Confidential Access Codes to the portal have already been given to each Political Party to facilitate the uploading of its nominations.”

“For emphasis, the Commission wishes to remind Political Parties that only the names of candidates that emerged from democratic primaries as provided by Sec. 84 of the Electoral Act 2022 shall be submitted to the Commission. Similarly, the list of all Presidential and Governorship candidates must be accompanied by the names of their running mates (i.e. Vice Presidential and Deputy Governorship candidates) without which the nomination is invalid.

“All nominations must be uploaded to the portal on/or before the deadlines. The portal will automatically shut down at 6.00pm (1800hrs) on Friday 17th June 2022 for national elections and 6.00pm (1800hrs) on Friday 15th July 2022 for State elections. With this innovation, the Commission has eliminated the physical interface between party officials and INEC staff for the purpose of submitting the list of candidates for the 2023 General Election.

“A Nomination Centre has been set up here at the Commission’s Headquarters to receive and process all nominations by political parties, including dedicated telephone lines to serve as Help Desk for any Party that may need assistance. In our avowed commitment to openness and transparency of the process, the media will be invited to the Nomination Center so that Nigerians will see our level of preparedness for the exercise,” the commission further said.

Tinubu, Atiku’s search for running mates

The announcement came on the heel of intense search for running mates by both the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

While former Lagos state Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from the South-west emerged the APC presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who hails from the North-east, was elected the PDP standard bearer.

With the two candidates being Muslims by faith, the choice of who becomes their running mates has become a dilemma to them as well as their political parties.

Tinubu/APC

And in the APC camp for instance, there is seeming disquiet over the choice of running mate.

By the party’s zoning arrangement, the North-east is expected to produce the running mate to the party’s flag bearer.

It is not however clear whether the dynamics might change, especially against the permutation in some circles that Kano state Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje might be in top contention from the North-west, a region believed to have strong voting base.

And to this end, the APC governors from the North met with Asiwaju Tinubu to discuss the issue, even as the APC National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu pledged to ensure victory for the party during the 2023 presidential poll.

Adamu, alongside his colleagues in the National Working Committee (NWC), met with the party’s presidential candidate Thursday behind closed doors at his (Tinubu) Abuja residence.

Adamu described the task of ensuring Tinubu’s victory as a task that must be accomplished by the entire party stalwarts across the country.

“For us, action speaks louder than voice, we are here to join our brother, congratulate him and assure him that we are together. This is our project and by God’s grace, we will succeed,’’ the APC national chairman said.

Govs meet candidate too

Also, the APC governors from the northern part of the country also met with Tinubu behind closed doors in an apparent bid to have a say in his choice of running mate before the expiration of INEC’s June 17 deadline.

Some of the governors at the parley were Ahmad Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (Kano) and Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina).

A source told one of our correspondents that Tinubu might be left with no choice but to settle for a Muslim -Muslim ticket as a matter of “political expediency.”

“This is not about sentiments; it is about winning election. Who is that Christian that Tinubu would pick that would please the overwhelming Muslim population in the far north that can swing the votes in his favour?

“If Tinubu is not careful, he will give Atiku the opportunity to make political capital out of it and it would be costly to the APC,” said a  top party source who was privy to the parley.

Similarly, another source said “when one looks at what happened in Kaduna where there was a Muslim-Muslim ticket of El-Rufai and his deputy, one can readily conclude that doing same under this circumstance, at least to check Atiku’s candidature, won’t be a bad idea.”

PDP probables

And in the PDP, lined up as possible running mate to Atiku are Rivers state Governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, who was the runner-up to the former number two man during the party’s convention, Akwa Ibom state Governor Udom Emmanuel, also a presidential aspirant and Delta state Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

The trio are all from the South-south, leaving the South-east which is embittered over alleged marginalisation, out of reckoning.

While Wike’s Rivers is believed to have some electoral value coupled with the governor’s war chest to prosecute the campaign, it is feared that his choice may be opposed by major stakeholders within the party, particularly his colleague-governors who believed he is too overbearing when it comes to issues affecting the party.

Besides, his accusation of colleague-governors from the South as being responsible for his loss during the presidential primaries is one other thing, as gathered by this medium, that might also work against his emergence as the running mate.

Also, sources believed his ‘public conduct and outspokenness’ could cause some damage within the presidency as the number two man, if the party eventually wins the election.

For the duo of Udom and Emmanuel, the party would be facing an arduous task in convincing Wike to back either of them, particularly against the backdrop of the Rivers governor’s angst that Udom would have stepped down and backed his candidature against Atiku.

While Wike’s supporters are rooting for him as running mate, a handful of party leaders queue behind Okowa as the party’s best choice for the position.