The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has finally granted the request by political parties to adjust the timetable for the 2023 polls.
The Commission agreed to extend the deadline for the conduit of party primaries by six days.
This came after a closed door meeting with the leadership of the political parties under the auspices of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC).
The parties, during a meeting on Friday, made a fresh appeal to the Commission to reconsider its earlier position and alter the timetable.
The Commission, through a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr. Festus Okoye, said it 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.
It, however, stressed: “This request is granted in respect of outstanding primaries only without prejudice to those already concluded by political parties. The Commission will not monitor already concluded primaries.”
It added: “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. However, this request is granted in respect of outstanding primaries only without prejudice to those already concluded by political parties. The Commission will not monitor already concluded primaries.
“After the conduct of primaries, the next critical activity for political parties is the online submission of the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor which shall be accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the candidates indicating that they fulfilled all the constitutional requirements for election into the various offices via the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal.”
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticized the decision by INEC to extend the deadline for party primaries by six days.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Debo Ologunagba, accused INEC of altering the goalposts in the middle of the game, emphasizing that election certainty is the backbone of democracy.
The party will hold its presidential primary on Saturday, May 28.
“The consequences will be grave for the country. And of course, we have to look at that,” Ologunagba said.
“The bedrock of democracy is the certainty of elections and the fact that the rules are clear to every participant; and you cannot shift the goalpost in the middle of the game.”