INEC extends deadline for primaries by six days

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the deadline for the conduct of party primaries.

The commission disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday by Festus Okoye, INEC national commissioner in charge of information and voter education.

The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) had requested an extension of the deadline for primaries to a date between June 3 and June 10.

In a statement after a meeting involving IPAC and INEC on Friday, the commission said it had granted the request of political parties to extend the deadline.

“Based on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election, the parties have now pleaded with the Commission to use the 6-day period between 4th and 9th June 2022 to conclude outstanding primaries and prepare to upload the list of candidates and their affidavits on the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal,” the statement reads.

“The Commission did not schedule any specific activity during this period. The idea is to simply give parties time to compile the list and personal particulars of their nominated candidates before uploading same to the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal from 10th – 17th June 2022.

“The Commission has decided to allow the request of the political parties, since the six-day period does not conflict with the next scheduled activity which is the submission of the list of nominated candidates or any of the subsequent timelines which remain sacrosanct.”

Meanwhile, the development comes hours before the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) are scheduled to conduct their presidential primaries.

While PDP’s primary is fixed for May 28 to 29, that of the APC is expected to hold from May 29 to 30.