INEC Says Kwankwaso’s NNPP, Sowore’s AAC Yet To Submit ‘A Single Name’ Of Governorship, State Assembly Candidates

Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Omoyele Sowore’s African Action Congress (ACC) have yet to submit any name of governorship and state assembly candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Festus Okoye, INEC’s Commissioner for Information and Voter Education Committee, disclosed this on Wednesday.

The electoral body had set July 15 as the deadline for all political parties to submit the names of all governorship and state assembly candidates contesting on their platforms to its portal. It had warned that failure to upload the candidates’ names and particulars before the deadline will render the nomination of such candidates invalid.

Okoye said out of the country’s 18 political parties, only the NNPP and AAC whose respective presidential candidates are Kwankwaso and Sowore, are yet to submit the names of their governorship and state assembly candidates.

“So far, the Commission has processed 6,995 nomination forms (EC9) uploaded by 16 out of 18 political parties for the constituencies where they intend to sponsor candidates. However, two political parties, the African Action Congress (AAC) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), are yet to upload a single nomination to the portal.

“The Commission hereby reminds all political parties that they have three days left to upload their list of candidates to the ICNP. The deadline is Friday 15th July 2022. The portal will automatically shut down at 6.00pm on that date,” he said.

Meanwhile, Okoye said INEC has continued to respond to “requests for the issuance of Certified True Copies (CTCs) of documents mainly arising from the conduct of party congresses, primaries and nomination of candidates. The number of requests processed has now risen to one million, six hundred and sixty-two thousand, nine hundred and eighty seven (1,662,987) pages of documents. Sadly, in spite of the Commission’s effort, 147 out of 476 requests processed as at today involving 5,646 pages are yet to be collected by applicants.

“The Commission appeals to prospective litigants to come forward and collect the certified copies of the documents.”