In keeping to it’s preparation for the 2023 General elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), have published the names of eighteen candidates, their political parties and other details for the 2023 General elections, which have now made public the answers to some questions about the major contenders for the office of the president.
WHAT WE KNOW
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has published the names of eighteen individuals that are contesting to occupy Aso Rock, Nigeria`s seat of power in the February 2023 presidential election.
The electoral body has listed the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Peter Obi of Labour Party, LP, and others as the Presidential candidates for the forthcoming 2023 election.
The circular released by INEC on Tuesday, captured the origin, age, and other details of the candidates.
The APC candidate Bola Tinubu age is captured in the circular as seventy years old (70). Tinubu’s real age has been a subject of public debate in recent time. His qualification, according to the electoral body, is BSC in Business Administration.
Tinubu’s running mate, Shettima Kashim is 55 years old and presented Primary school certificate, General certificate of Education, B.Sc Agriculture.
Labour Party Presidential candidate, was entered as Obi Peter Gregory of Labour Party, submitted FSLC WASC/GCE Degree and is 61 years old. His running mate Baba Ahmed Yusuf Datti has FSLC GCE PhD and is 53 years old.
The candidate of the PDP, Atiku is 75 and presented GCE, Masters. His running mate Okowa Arthur Ifeanyi is 63 and presented HSC MBBS.
The presidential candidates of all the parties participating in the next year presidential elecrions are as follows:
- All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima.
- Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate and his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa.
- Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP)and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.
- Osita Nnadi, presidential candidate of Action Peoples Party (APP) and his running mate, Isa Hamisu.
- Abiola Kolawole, presidential candidate of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and his running mate, Ribi Marshal
- Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party and his running mate, Bishop Isaac Idahosa.
- Yabagi Sani, presidential candidate of Action Democratic Party (ADP) and his running mate, Udo Okey -Okoro
- Ado-Ibrahim Abdulmalik, presidential candidate, Young Progressives Party (YPP) and his running mate, Enyinna Kasarachi.
- Omoyele Sowere, presidential candidate African Action Congress (AAC ) and his running mate, Garba Magashi
- Mamman Dantalle, presidential candidate of Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and his running mate Ojei Princess
- Chukwudi Umeadi presidential candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and his running mate Koli Mohammed.
- Oluwafemi Adenuga, presidential candidate of Boot Party (BP) and the running mate Turaku Mustapha
- Daberechukwu Nwanyanwu, presidential candidate of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and the running mate, Ramalan Abubakar
- Dumebi Kachikwu presidential candidate, African Democratic Congress (ADC) and his running mate, Ahmed Mani.
- Hamsa Almustafa, presidential candidate, Action Aliance (AA) and his running mate Chukwuka Johnson
- Felix Johnson Osakwe National Rescue Movement (NRM)
- Imumolen Christopher Accord party (AP)
- Adebayo Adewole Ebenezer Social Democratic Party (SDP).
NOTABLE QUOTES
Mr. Festus Okoye while presenting the circular to the press noted that:
“Thereafter, political parties substituted such candidates under section 31 of the Electoral Act for which the last day was 15th July 2022 for national elections and 12th August 2022 for State elections as clearly provided in item 6 of the Commission’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities.
“Thereafter, no withdrawal or substitution of candidates is allowed except in the event of death as provided in section 34(1) of the Electoral Act or pursuant to an order of a Court of competent jurisdiction”, he said.
“The list published today contains the names of candidates validly nominated for national elections at the close of party primaries and the period earmarked for withdrawal and substitution of candidates.
“The final list of candidates for State elections (Governorship and State Constituencies) will be published on 4th October 2022 as already indicated on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.
“We note the fact that not all the political parties conducted primaries in all the constituencies, submitted the particulars of candidates that emerged from valid primaries or substituted their candidates after fresh primaries within 14 days as provided in section 33 of the Electoral Act.
“This has led to numerous litigations, some of which are ongoing. Where the Commission was served with Court orders by aggrieved aspirants or candidates before the publication of this list, these have been indicated under the remark column.
“In summary, all the 18 political parties have fielded candidates and their running mates for the Presidential election.
“For legislative elections, 1,101 candidates are vying for 109 Senatorial seats and 3,122 candidates for Federal Constituencies i.e. House of Representatives seats, making a total of 4,223 candidates contesting for 469 legislative positions.
” In terms of gender distribution, 3,875 candidates are male, made up of 35 for Presidential and Vice Presidential, 1,008 for Senate and 2,832 for House of Representatives. Similarly, 381 females comprising 1 for Presidential, 92 for Senate, and 288 for House of Representatives are contesting. There are also 11 Persons with Disability (PWDs) in the race.
“The list for specific constituencies is published in each State where they are located while the comprehensive nationwide list has been uploaded to the Commission’s website.
“We appeal to all political parties to channel any observations on the list of candidates to the Commission and such must be signed by the National Chairman and Secretary of the political party and supported with an affidavit as provided in section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2022.”, the INEC commissioner stated.
CATCH UP
INEC has earlier released the electoral timetable for activities before the 2023 elections, which includes the date of publishing the final list of qualifying candidates for the general elections.
The Tuesday publication is in honour of the promise by the electoral umpire. The list puts away all doubt about the candidacy of some persons who have been the subject of some controversies.
COMMENTARY
With the published list of candidates, indeed the die is cast for the 2023 General elections.
In about seven days from now the campaigns will officially start, going by the INEC timetable. With this, Nigerians can begin to scrutinise those who seek to occupy Aso Rock next year.
Already, the top three contenders have generated much debate and perhaps controversy amongst their followers.
For example, over the last few months, the real age and health status of the APC candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been a subject of public concern and debate.
Recall that former Performing Musicians Association of Nigerian (PMAN) President, Tee Mac Omatshola Iseli had claimed that Tinubu’s real age is 86. His recent viral picture where he was caught dozing in the middle of a meeting with the Emir of Gombe has raised questions of his fitness.
For Atiku Abubakar, the unending PDP crisis may be his greatest undoing. His rift with Nyesom Wike has unearthed the injustice the PDP has meted on the southern part of the country.
The beauty of multiple party democracy as this list of 18 has shown, is that Nigerians have a wide pool to draw from.
However, the challenge is that most of these names are unknown quantity in the political equation, hence making it difficult to consider them.
Another challenge these multitude of names may cause, is that some of them may just split the potential vote of real candidates as they may just be a distraction from the real thing.
