The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday warned political parties to conduct transparent and democratic primaries ahead of the 2023 general elections.
In a statement issued by its National Commissioner and Chairman of Information, and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, the commission charged all political parties participating in the elections to abide by the provisions of the Electoral Act, stressing that failure to do that would result in the disqualification of candidates.
It also threatened to declare acrimonious primaries invalid.
INEC implored the parties to decently embrace the principles of internal democracy, relying on the fundamental provisions of constitutions, the Electoral Act and other regulations and guidelines.
The statement read: “Candidates for the 1,491 constituencies for which elections will be conducted in 2023 must emerge from democratic, transparent and valid primaries, in line with the provisions of Sections 29 and 84 of the Electoral Act, 2022.”
“Primaries must be conducted in the various constituencies as provided in Section 84 of the Electoral Act, pointing out that it is a violation of the law to conduct primaries outside the constituencies for which parties are nominating candidates.
“Where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of the Act in the conduct of its primaries, its candidate shall not be included in the election for the particular position in the issue.
“As required by law, the Commission shall monitor the primaries of each political party that provides the required legal notice in line with Sections 82 (1) and (5) of the Electoral Act. Failure of a political party to notify the commission of any convention or congress convened for the purpose of nominating candidates for any of the elective offices specified in the Act shall render the convention or congress invalid.”