The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has told political parties and presidential candidates that they cannot replace running mates ahead of the 2023 election.
This is even as the electoral umpire ruled out the invention of “placeholder” or dummy vice presidential candidate as exhibited by some parties.
The commission added that the concept of placeholder has no place in the constitution of Nigeria, and described it as a mere invention by the parties.
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Daily Report Nigeria recalls that INEC had announced June 17 as deadline for the nomination of vice presidential candidates, following the conclusion of presidential primaries.
But, as the search for sellable running mates intensified, some presidential candidates including Ahmed Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress and Peter Obi of Labour Party submitted running mates they referred to as “placeholders or dummies.”
However, the INEC Commissioner for Voters’ Education and Information, Barrister Festus Okoye, in an interview on Arise TV on Monday, emphatically ruled out the concept of “placeholder” for vice-presidential candidates.
According to Okoye, the concept has no place in the Independent National Electoral Commission’s constitution.
Describing “placeholder is a unique Nigerian invention”, the lawyer said “the constitution already made it clear that one you cannot run alone as a presidential candidate and must nominate an associate to run with you for that position, and as far as INEC is concerned, the presidential candidates have submitted their associates to run with them in the presidential election.
“As far as we are concerned, there’s no form submitted by the presidential candidate where they said we’re submitting this person’s name as a place or placeholder,” he said.
Okoye noted that the only way political parties can change their vice presidential candidates is for the submitted individual to write to INEC with a sworn affidavit stating his reasons for withdrawing from the election within a given timeframe.
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