Seventeen political parties will contest the September 21, off-cycle governorship election in Edo state, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Wednesday, March 27.

In a statement signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, Sam Olumekun said the 17 parties are the ones that met the deadline for submission of names of elected candidates for the election.

Submission and upload of names of nominated candidates for the election closed by 6.00 pm on Sunday, March 24, while the commission is expected to publish the names of the candidates on the 30 of March.

The statement reads: “Following the conclusion of party primaries, seventeen (17) Political Parties have uploaded their candidates’ nomination forms for the Edo State Governorship Election by the deadline of 6.00 pm on 24^th March 2024 when the dedicated portal automatically shut down.

“The personal particulars of the Governorship candidates and their running mates will be published on Saturday 30^th March 2024, a week from the last date for the submission of nominations as provided in Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.

“The Commission shall publish the personal particulars by displaying copies of Form EC9 along with all academic credentials and other documents submitted by each candidate at the State Headquarters and the 18 Local Government offices across Edo State.

“We appeal to Nigerians to scrutinise the documents. Any aspirant who participated in his/her party primaries with reasonable grounds to believe that the information provided by the candidate is false can challenge the nomination in a Federal High Court as provided in Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022.

“The Edo State Governorship Election is scheduled to hold on Saturday 21^st September 2024.”

The statement was however silent on the names of parties that beat the deadline even though the Chairman of the Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu had told the nation that 18 political parties conducted primaries monitored by the commission. (The Nation)

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