The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced Saturday 11th November 2023 as the date for the three governorship elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa states.
The commission also said the final list of candidates would be published on 9th June 2023 while campaign by political parties commences 14th June 2023 and ends midnight of 9th November 2023.
A statement Tuesday by the commission’s spokesman, Barrister Festus Okoye, said the timetable and schedule of activities for the Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states’ governorship elections were approved in accordance with the extant laws.
The statement read: “At its weekly meeting held today Tuesday 22nd October 2022, the Commission approved the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states’ governorship elections.
“This decision is in fulfillment of the requirement of Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 which mandates the Commission to publish the Notice of Election not later than 360 days before the date fixed for the elections. Similarly, Sections 178(1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 mandates the Commission to conduct such elections not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of the last holder of the office.
“The tenure of the incumbent Governor of Imo State ends on 14th January 2024 while those of Kogi and Beyelsa States end on 26th January 2024 and 13th February 2024 respectively.
“Accordingly, the commission has decided to conduct the three elections on Saturday 11th November 2023.
“The statutory notice for the elections will be published in the three States on 14th November 2022. Party primaries will be held from 27th March to 17th April 2023 while the online portal for the submission of nomination forms (EC9 and EC9B) by political parties opens at 9.00am on 24th April 2023 and closes at 6.00pm on 5th May 2023.
“The final list of candidates will be published on 9th June 2023 while campaign by political parties commences on 14th June 2023 and ends at midnight on 9th November 2023.
“The full timetable and schedule of activities has been uploaded to the commission’s website and social media platforms.”
CSO urges Buhari on ‘plot’ to remove Yakubu
And ahead of the 2023 general election, a Civil Society Organisations – Partners for Electoral Reform (PER) – has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently set up a team to investigate alleged plot by some politicians to suspend the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and remove the INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
The election monitoring body said the move became necessary against the backdrop of the promise made by the president at an international stage recently that he will ensure a free and fair election in 2023 elections.
The call for investigation is coming on the heel of the recent revelation by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) that some politicians not comfortable with the development in the process leading to the forthcoming elections were secretly working to frustrate it.
Addressing a press conference Tuesday in Abuja, leader of the group, Enzenwa Nwagwu, alleged politicians, in collusion with even some elements within INEC and the security agents, were behind the plot to scuttle the reforms already put in place by the current leadership of the electoral umpire.
Nwagwu said: “If the citizens are not careful our investment in consolidating this democracy can be reversed. And that for me is the big challenge for 2023. The threats of reversal of all the gains, incremental gains that we have made to restore power back to the citizens of the country, through the polling units.
“I think that the currents INEC leadership has, for me, put in place, a legacy that you can’t erase, in the sense that it has played itself completely out of any relevance in determining who wins elections. It has successfully restored power back to the people. Power to elect has returned back to the polling units.
“But that has triggered a lot of reaction from politicians who are completely absent in any conversation about reforms. What that means is that there seems to be a spotlight on electronic transmission of results. There seems to be a lot of interests around the BVAS and these are the game changers for 2023.
“The President and Commander in Chief has already said that he is going to leave a legacy of electoral integrity. If a congress of political parties make an allegation. I expect that the President should commission an investigation into those allegations. And make the outcomes public.
“So it is calling on the President to rein in the security agencies to align them with his vision of a legacy of electoral integrity. He, himself being a beneficiary of that. He was a beneficiary of that.
“From 2007 when President Ya’Adua said the election that brought him to power was flawed, we started making an awkward journey of progress in our electoral cycle.
“We are seeing real manifest vicious attacks on those progress that we have made and we cannot keep quiet. The kind of breathing on INEC has never happened before. This is the INEC chairman that has been taken to the Code of Conduct that has been invited to this or that. All of that is meant to harass them (INEC). In Imo state, INEC officials are being harassed, detained, sent to jail.”
While calling on Nigerians to speak out against those plotting to reverse all the gains made by the INEC, Nwagwu said: “Nigerians have a responsibility to protect an institutions that have shown that they have capacity to guarantee free, fair, credible elections. And that is why I started by the fact that we have a responsibility to understand that the Mahmoud’s Commission has given Nigerians power and it is our responsibility to protect that power that has been given to us.”
