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Hello!
For everyone who does not know (aka you have been living under a rock for the last several months!), the tenure of the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors of the States of the Federation (except Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun States) will expire on the 28th day of May 2023.
Also, the National and State Assemblies will be dissolved on the 8th day of June 2023. Therefore, as required by Law, all the political parties need to nominate candidates who will run for election to those posts. The Electoral Act (the law which governs elections in Nigeria) states this more be done not later than 180 days later than the date INEC has set for the elections. Below is the timeline for elections as shared by INEC:
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So, in our newsletter today, we wanted to share two quick facts to note regarding how political parties must conduct their primaries, and the nomination process.
Fact 1: The Electoral Act allows political parties to nominate candidates by any of the following means – direct primaries, indirect primaries, and consensus.Direct primaries – all registered members of the party vote for the aspirants Indirect primaries – delegates vote for the aspirants Consensus – all cleared aspirants for the position voluntarily withdraw from the race and endorse one candidate, this must be in writing.
Fact 2: Political Appointees are not eligible as voting delegates or aspirants. This means that any Minister, Commissioner, Director-General of a Federal or State Agency, Special Advisor etc., essentially anybody who holds a role where s/he was appointed cannot contest as an aspirant. If they do, they will be disqualified.
Hope you have enjoyed our election primary facts. Need some more? Check out these articles on our website: