On Sunday, January 8, 2023, there will be a general election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied issuing a new final list of candidates.
On Monday in Abuja, Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, clarified the situation.
He claims that on January 9, 2023, media stories (not from Prime 9ja Online) caught the commission's attention, and on January 8, 2023, the commission posted the final list of candidates online.
“The commission wishes to state categorically that no new publication of the final list of candidates was released as reported. The public should therefore discountenance the story. For the record, the final list of candidates for the 2023 General Election would be published at least 150 days before the day of elections in compliance with the provision of Sec. 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022.
“Accordingly, the final list for Presidential and National Assembly elections was published on 20th September 2022 while that of Governorship and State Assembly elections was published two weeks later on 4th October 2022.
“These are clearly indicated as item 8 on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election released by the Commission on 26th February 2022,” Okoye said.
He said that there cannot be a final list of candidates with just 46 days to the general elections except for names published as substitutions for candidates nominated earlier in compliance with the Court Order.
He said, “Moreover, some of the candidates that allegedly made the new “final” list are still in Court and the matter is therefore subjudice. Political parties, litigants and the public should be guided accordingly.”