- Urges aspirants to head to court to prosecute candidates with fake claims
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that the personal details of candidates and their running mates from political parties participating in the September governorship election in Edo state will be published on Saturday, March 30.
The National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, conveyed in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday that INEC’s recent publication adheres to the stipulations of Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.
The commission has also declared that the personal details of each candidate, including copies of Form EC9, academic certificates, and other submitted documents, will be displayed at the state headquarters and throughout the 18 Local Government offices in Edo State.
The electoral umpire however urged Nigerians to scrutinise the submitted documents, stressing that any aspirant who participated in the party primaries with reasonable grounds that the information provided by the candidate is false can challenge the nomination in a Federal High Court as provided in Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022.
According to the statement; “Following the conclusion of party primaries, 17 political parties have uploaded their candidates’ nomination forms for the Edo state governorship election by the deadline of 6.00 pm on 24th March 2024 when the dedicated portal automatically shut down.
“The personal particulars of the governorship candidates and their running mates will be published on Saturday, March 30, 2024, a week from the last date for the submission of nominations as provided in Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.
“The commission shall publish the personal particulars by displaying copies of Form EC9 along with all academic credentials and other documents submitted by each candidate at the state headquarters and the 18 Local Government offices across Edo state.
“We appeal to Nigerians to scrutinise the documents. Any aspirant who participated in his/her party primaries with reasonable grounds to believe that the information provided by the candidate is false can challenge the nomination in a Federal High Court as provided in Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022.
The Edo state governorship election is scheduled to hold on Saturday 21st September 2024,” the statement from the electoral umpire read.