FOUR days to the March 24 deadline for nomination of governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the September 21, 2024 election in Edo State, only six of the 18 registered political parties have filed their nominations, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said.

Making the disclosure, yesterday, the electoral umpire cautioned political parties against granting unnecessary waivers to new entrants and offering them their tickets, saying such development has continued to put a lot of litigation costs on the commission.

This was as it told parties seeking participation in the election that it would not extend the March 24 timeline for the nomination of their candidates.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at the first regular quarterly consultative meeting with political parties.

He said: “Already, party primaries for the Edo State governorship election have been concluded. By the timetable and schedule of activities for the election, political parties have 20 days to upload the list and personal particulars of their candidates to our dedicated portal.

“We have trained party liaison officers and established a help desk for political parties. The portal opened on 4th March 2024 and will automatically shut down at 6pm on Saturday 24th March 2024.

“Two weeks later, only six parties have uploaded their nominations to the portal. We urge you to keep to our schedule of activities and avoid last minute rush that may undermine your ability to successfully nominate your candidates.

“There will be no extension of time beyond the deadline already published in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election, to enable us to publish the personal particulars of candidates (Form EC9) on 31st March 2024 as required by law.”He said for the Ondo State governorship election, party primaries will begin in the next two weeks on April 6, 2024 and end three weeks later on April 27.

According to him, so far, 16 of 19 political parties have indicated interest in participating in the election.

Litigation costs

“I urge political parties to adhere strictly to your proposed dates and modes of primaries. Frequent changes as we witnessed recently during the Edo primaries are not only disruptive but costly. The Commission cannot mobilize, demobilize and remobilize our officials for the monitoring of party primaries at the convenience of political parties. Parties should stick to their proposed dates and modes of primaries for certainty and optimal deployment of resources.

“Similarly, political parties should avoid acrimonious primaries. Increasingly, the conduct of parallel primaries and the emergence of multiple candidates is a frequent occurrence. So too is the tendency to grant waivers to candidates who were a few days earlier card-carrying members of other political parties and nominating such persons to the Commission as their candidates for election.

“Some of these infractions lead to unnecessary litigation among party members in which the Commission is always joined as a party. The legal fees and cost of producing Certified True Copies, CTCs, of documents can be used more productively in other electoral activities by both the political parties and the Commission. We must find a solution to this situation,” he added.

While the Edo State Governorship election holds on Saturday September 21, 2024, the Ondo State Governorship election is holding on Saturday November 16, 2024.