The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Monday, opened candidates nomination portal for the September 21 governorship election in Edo State.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, confirmed this in a chat with Vanguard.
INEC had, last week, said political parties have from yesterday, March 4, to 6pm of Sunday, March 24, 2024, to file their nominations.
It also asked political parties participating in the Edo governorship election to work within the timeline for the nomination of candidates, saying it would not grant any extension.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, gave the charge in a statement issued on Friday, in Abuja.
Olumekun had noted that as provided by the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the forthcoming off-cycle Edo State governorship election, the deadline for the conduct of primaries by political parties expired on February 24, 2024.
According to him, the next activity is the submission of nomination forms by political parties via the dedicated online portal.
He said: “The commission has earmarked a period of 20 days for Political parties to upload the Personal Particulars (Form EC9) and Names/List of Nominated candidates (Form EC9B) of their candidates to the portal which will open at 9.00am on Monday 4th March 2024 and automatically shut down at 6.00pm on Sunday 24th March 2024. Access Code to the portal will be available for collection by national chairmen of political parties from today (yesterday).”
“The commission wishes to draw the attention of political parties that 20 days are enough to upload the nomination forms of only two candidates per party (Governorship candidate and running mate). Therefore, there is no reason to request for extension of time and none will be granted beyond Sunday 24th March 2024. Political parties should ensure strict compliance with the timelines.”
