17 parties indicate interest in Ondo guber poll

From Okodili Ndidi, AbujaSeventeen political parties have indicated interest to participate in the Ondo governorship election slated for October 10, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed.The Commission disclosed that only the Boot Party out of the 18 registered political parties has not notified it of its intention to conduct primaries.According to a statement by INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, the Boot Party did not give any notification of its intention to conduct primaries for the Ondo Governorship election.The statement added that, this is in compliance with section 85 (1) of the Electoral Act, which makes it mandatory for registered Political Parties to give the Commission at least 21 days notice of any Congress or meeting convened for the purpose of nominating candidates for any of the elective offices specified in the Act. Details of the political parties and their calendar of Congresses/Primaries (including dates and modes of primaries) have been published on the Commissions website and social media platforms.Read Also:Ondo poll: we want direct primary in APC, says AdojuteleganBy Section 87 (2) of the Electoral Act, Political Parties have the exclusive discretion to determine the procedure for the nomination of candidates which shall be by Direct or Indirect primaries and all the 17 Political Parties notified the Commission of their intention to conduct Indirect Primaries for the nomination of their candidates.It continued that, political Parties are reminded that they are required to submit a comprehensive list of all the delegates eligible to participate in the primaries at least 7 days before the scheduled date.The Commission also admonished political parties to comply with INEC deadlines on the conduct of their activities, the INEC portal for uploading nomination forms will open on 21st July and close on at 6pm on 28th July 2020. We urge Political Parties not to wait till the last day before submitting the names of their nominated candidates as.Political Parties must observe all the health protocols and guidelines made available to them by the Commission, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the State Government. They must also enforce the policy of No Mask, No Voting in their primaries, it added.
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