Following the declaration of vacancies by the Speaker, house of representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Independent national electoral commission, INEC has announced that the scheduled bye-elections for six constituencies in 4 States will hold on Saturday 26th February immediately after the FCT area councils election.
The commission, in a statement issued by the chairman of information and voter education, Festus Okoye, said
The 4 States are Imo, Zamfara, Cross river and Rivers as the exercise will enable the electoral body to clear most of the bye-elections inorder to focus on the Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections as well as the ongoing preparations for the 2023 General Election.
INEC said it considered issues that led to the vacancies and the rescheduling of some of the elections as well as the security situation in some of the States and decided to combine the Ekiti East 1 State Constituency election with the Governorship election in Ekiti, which will hold on 18th June 2022
The commission also noted that Some of the vacancies arose as a result of the death of the previous occupants; substantial disruption of the electoral process and fulfillment of constitutional and legal requirements in the electoral process.
INEC said it is consulting with security agencies and the critical stakeholders relating to the vacancy in Shinkafi State Constituency of Zamfara State while the Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly has not declared vacancy in relation to Giwa State Constituency of Kaduna State.
It announced that official notification for the elections will be published on Monday 24th January 2022 for Political Parties to conduct their primaries including resolution of disputes arising from the primaries between 26th January and 5th February 2022 while the last day for submission of list of nominated candidates is at 6pm on the 9th February 2022 and must be done through the Commission’s online nomination portal.
INEC further asked Political Parties to submit the names of their Polling Agents for the election to the Electoral Officer of the Local Government on or before 12th February 2022 and campaigns by Political parties shall stop on 24th February 2022 as the Access Code for the nomination forms will be available for collection from 5th February 2022 at the Commission’s headquarters.
It said Political parties fielding candidates for the bye-elections must comply with the activities and timelines set out in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the conduct of the bye-election and conduct transparent as well as valid direct or indirect primaries in accordance with the dictates of sections 85 and 87 of the Electoral Act 2010 [As amended].
INEC warned Political parties that name of a candidate who does not meet the qualifications stipulated in the Constitution and the Electoral Act will be guilty of an offence and on conviction shall be liable to a maximum fine of N500,000.00 as detailed Timetable and Schedule of activities has been uploaded on the Commission’s website and social media platforms.
