INEC to announce candidates for next governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi

According to the announcement made by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the list of candidates along with their biographical information would be made public on Friday for the governorship elections in the states of Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi.

On Thursday, this information was included in a statement that was signed by Festus Okoye, who serves as the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee for INEC.

The statement claims that all 18 political parties have nominated candidates for the governorship race in Kogi, whereas only 17 parties have done so for the elections in Bayelsa and Imo States respectively.

The announcement went as follows: “Nigerians may recall that on Tuesday, October 25, 2022, the Commission issued the agenda and calendar of operations for the three off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, lmo, and Kogi states held on Saturday, November 11, 2023. These elections were held on Saturday, November 11, 2023.

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“In accordance with the requirements of the law, political parties held their primaries and uploaded the names and personal information of their candidates and running mates to the INEC candidate nomination portal by the deadline of 6:00 pm on May 5, 2023.

“All of the political parties that are sponsoring candidates for the three elections have turned in the properly filled out Forms EC9 containing personal particulars accompanied by sworn documents, as well as Forms EC9B containing the names of their candidates,” the statement read. “The elections will take place on [the] dates specified by the Commission.

“In accordance with the provisions of subsection (3) of section 29 of the Electoral Act 2022, the Commission is obligated to publish the personal particulars of the candidates on Friday, May 12, 2023, in the offices of the State Headquarters and the Local Government in all three states.

“We are appealing to the people of Nigeria to review the list. According to provision number 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022, “any aspirant who participated in their party’s primaries and has reasonable grounds to believe that the information provided by the candidate is false may challenge the nomination at the Federal High Court.”