The Independent National Electoral Commission has listed the conditions for political parties to substitute candidates whose names have been forwarded to the commission.
An INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, listed the conditions when he spoke on Friday on Channels TV.
Okoye, who also superintends the Information and Voter Educations Department of the electoral umpire, told Channels TV Politics Today that the law does not give any political party the right to replace a validly nominated candidate as it is the prerogative of the individual to be substituted.
Okoye said: “As far as the law is concerned and as far as the commission is concerned, the commission makes it mandatory that the moment a presidential candidate emerges, such a presidential candidate must nominate an associate who shall run with him/her as a vice-presidential candidate.
“And so, both are seen as Siamese twins; they move together, and they fall together.
“In the forms submitted by the various political parties, they submitted forms relating to their presidential candidates and they also submitted forms relating to their vice-presidential presidential candidates, and that is in compliance with the provisions of the constitution and in compliance with the provisions of the law.
“There is a provision in the Electoral Act for withdrawal of candidates validly nominated and the law provides that a political party cannot substitute a candidate that has been validly nominated except in two instances; if the nominated candidate dies or if the nominated candidate withdraws from the race.
“And in terms of withdrawal, the nominated candidate shall – in his own writing – write a letter to the political party that nominated him, indicating that he has withdrawn from the race and that must also be accompanied by an affidavit duly sworn to by the said candidate.
“Then the political party that nominated the candidate will now forward same to the Independent National Electoral Commission saying that our presidential candidate has withdrawn, or our vice-presidential candidate has withdrawn, and these are the documents of withdrawal and this is the person we are using to replace.
“But as of today, the political parties nominated their presidential candidates and nominated their vice-presidential candidates, so the issue of withdrawal is at the absolute discretion of the duly nominated candidate and no one else.”
According to Okoye, the political parties submitted forms containing the names of their presidential and vice-presidential candidates as well as their particulars and sworn affidavits.
He stressed that none of the political parties indicated that they were submitting the document or name of a candidate as a placeholder.
He said: “All the political parties that submitted list and particulars of their candidates said they were submitting the list of their presidential candidates and vice-presidential candidates; the issue of submitting a name in lieu, or submitting a name as a placeholder did not even arise.”
Recall that the All Progressives Congress and Labour Party had submitted the names of vice presidential candidates they referred to as placeholders.
While the APC named Kabir Ibrahim Masari as the placeholder running mate to its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Labour Party announced Dr. Doyin Okupe as the vice presidential candidate to Peter Obi.