A sizable portion of the political parties that are eligible to nominate candidates for the presidency and National Assembly elections in February have not yet fulfilled a certain election-related legal requirement.
Political parties are required to give lists of poll workers to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in accordance with Section 43 of the Electoral Act 2022.
The deadline was set for Friday, December 30, 2022, in accordance with INEC's calendar and schedule of events for the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections. Parties will submit names of poll workers to election officials in each of the 774 local government areas using INEC-designated websites.
After being questioned, Mr Festus Okoye, national commissioner for voter education and publicity for INEC, was unable to disclose how many political parties have conducted meetings or adhered to the Electoral Act.
Okoye pleaded with journalists to postpone their questions until after Friday's midnight deadline.
“December 30 is still live. We must wait for it to lapse and thereafter we will download what has been submitted by the parties,” he stated.
Okoye was pressed for further confirmation on whether or not the major political parties among the 18 qualifying parties were equally accountable, but he was unable to do so.
“I have not been around. I can only confirm after the public holiday,” he told reporters.
On Friday night, Chief Akin Osuntokun, director general of the Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation, informed reporters that the deadline had been extended.
“I think the deadline has been extended but we are up to speed,” Osuntokun said in a text message.
The INEC commissioner remained mute when asked about the latest estimate of Permanent Voters Cards still to be collected by eligible voters. He said that the figures wouldn’t be accessible until after the deadline for Nigerians to pick up their cards had passed.
He said: “The collection of these cards is ongoing and will be devolved to the electoral wards from January 6, 2023, to January 15, 2023. Resident Electoral Commissioners have been directed to make daily returns of the collection rate from all the local government offices in their states.
“Before this period, the commission made available for collection the cards of those that registered before the 2019 general election for collection. The commission went into the 2019 general election with a total registered voter population of 84,004,084. Because of the number of uncollected PVCs in all the states of the federation, the commission directed all the Resident Electoral commissioners in all the states of the federation to take an inventory of all uncollected PVCs. The commission will send messages to those who have yet to collect their PVCs.
“The commission made the Permanent Voters Cards available for collection based on electoral wards, local governments and states.
“The commission is irrevocably committed to making the Permanent Voters Cards available to eligible Nigerians. We urge all registered before the 2019 general election and those who have yet to collect their cards to approach our local government offices where they intend to vote and collect their cards.
“The same applies to all those that registered during the off-cycle elections and during the CVR. We advise all those that have collected their cards to keep them in safe custody pending the 2023 general election. The PVC is not an alternative identity card and should be preserved and reserved for elections and elections only.”