The Independent National Electoral Commission has said not less than 14 political parties in Edo State have beaten the deadline for the submission of the list of their candidates for the September 19 governorship election in the state.
Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, made this known in a statement issued on Tuesday night after its meeting to deliberate on the Edo poll, Ondo State governorship election scheduled for October 10 and the bye-election in Nasarawa Central State constituency.
The commission said the public should go to court if they have reasonable grounds to believe that any information in the affidavit or any document submitted by any candidate was false.
He said, “At the close of nominations at 6 pm on June 29, 2020, 14 political parties used the dedicated online portal of the commission to submit the list of candidates that emerged from their primaries”.
“We encourage members of the public to go through the nomination forms, affidavits and documents submitted by the parties on behalf of their candidates, as any person who has reasonable grounds to believe that any information in the affidavit or any document submitted by any candidate is false, may file a suit at the Federal High Court, High Court of a State or the FCT against such a candidate seeking a declaration that the information contained in the affidavit is false.
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“The provisional list of the candidates disaggregated on the basis of name, gender, age and qualification has been uploaded on our website and social media platforms. Furthermore, and as required by law, the particulars of the nominated candidates will be published in the Edo State office of the commission and simultaneously uploaded on our website Thursday, July 2 2020.
“The final list of duly nominated candidates will be published on August 13, 2020, after withdrawals by candidates and substitution by their political parties”.
Speaking on Ondo governorship election and Nasarawa Central State Constituency bye-election, the commission restated the date for the commencement of political party primaries.
