Posted by By IDOWU BAKARE, Abuja. on
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said there was no going back on the deadline for the substitution of candidates for the April general elections.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said there was no going back on the deadline for the substitution of candidates for the April general elections.
Consequently, substitution of candidates for the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections closed yesterday, while those of Presidential and National Assembly elections ends next Tuesday, February 20.
INEC Chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu, who spoke during a courtesy call on the commission by the Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority said, 'By midnight today, any political party that has not changed the candidates that it wants to change would have lost that opportunity. The former names it submitted will simply stay," Iwu said.
According to Iwu, not all candidates were cleared for the April elections, even as he said the parties have lost the opportunity to change the names of candidates that have pending issues. 'For the presidential election, we still have up till February 20 for the party to react to what we have given them as our findings. They can change the names of their candidates. It is their choice. They can give us alternative names and so on."
The INEC chairman said: 'If somebody has a case which we pointed out, the person has the right to go to court and make some determination." Adding, 'So we are not too anxious to ban anybody. You can say someone is not cleared to contest for election based on section 137 of the constitution but you cannot ban any Nigerian from contesting election."
'Our job is simply to say those who are eligible to contest based on that section of the law," Iwu said.
A release signed by the Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Andy Ezeani also said the dates remained sacrosanct, stressing that the commission has no power to change it since they are backed by law.
The release urged the public to disregard earlier media reports, which suggested that the dates have been extended.
It was, however, unclear as at press time, the number of candidates for state Assembly and governorship elections that have been substituted following the reports of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to political parties before yesterday deadline.