2023 Elections: Shopping For Running Mates Is Closing

Last Thursday, June 9, 2022, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), closed the window for all political parties to conclude their primaries. As that date, all parties were expected to have finished everything that had to do with selecting or electing their flag bearers in next year’s general elections.

The Commission is expected to by now be concluding uploading names of nominated candidates of parties to its portal because, according to the schedule, beginning from Friday, 10^th to Friday 17^th of June, the 18 political parties in the country are required to upload names and other details of their candidates, including those of presidents and their running mates, Senatorial and House of Representatives candidates.

Similarly, uploading of the list of candidates for state elections, that is, Governors and their Deputies and State Assembly candidates is scheduled for July 1^st to 15^th 2022.

The nomination portal is expected to shut down automatically by 6 pm on this Friday 17^th for national election candidates and 15^th July for those of state elections.

From what the Commission has emphasized, only the names of candidates that emerged from democratic primaries as provided by Sec. 84 of the Electoral Act 2022 shall be submitted to the Commission. Similarly, the list of all Presidential and Governorship candidates must be accompanied by the names of their running mates (i.e. Vice Presidential and Deputy Governorship candidates) without which the nomination is invalid.

It is the choice of running mates that seems to be giving several parties and their presidential candidates headache and in some case, nightmares in the last week. Rumours and counter rumours have been the order of the day.

The strategy of the parties and their flag bearers is to achieve a balance that will not upset the applecart, especially with the unofficial zoning in terms of geographical zones, religion and ethnic origin. Somehow, no one is giving any thought to gender considerations and since the women are not saying anything, everyone seems comfortable with arguing only over north-south and Muslim-Christian balance.

While the smaller parties seem to have little or no problems with the running mates issue, the big parties are the ones that do not want to give any advantage to their main competitors. There is no doubt that a lot of horse trading is still going on, while flag bearers are also trying to fulfill promises made to some co-contestants who stepped down for them in their party primaries. But everyone knows there is no more time to negotiate, unless INEC bows to pressure again and extend the deadline, as it did with the primaries.

The big parties like APC and PDP and those with big-name candidates like Labour are the ones that the announcement of running mates will generate much fanfare, just as their primaries did. Several names have been bandied about on both mainstream and social media but until the name is uploaded to the INEC portal, they are all speculations.

18 parties are officially registered by INEC to contest the 2023 elections but it seems one of the parties does not have a presidential candidate, as only 17 names seems to have been submitted while most of them await choice of Vice-Presidential candidates.

The Action Peoples Party (APP) is not expected to present a presidential candidate for the elections because as the time expiration date for political parties to conclude their primaries on June 9, they did not have one.

THE 17 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ARE:

1. Hamza Al-Mustapha, Action Alliance, AA
2. Omoyele Sowore, African Action Congress, AAC
3. Christopher Imumolen, Accord
4. Dumebi Kachikwu, African Democratic Congress, ADC
5. Yabagi Sani, Action Democratic Party (ADP)
6. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, All Progressives Congress, APC
7. Chekwas Okorie, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA
8. Yusuf Mamman Dantalle Allied People’s Movement, APM
9. Sunday Adenuga, Boot Party, BP
10. Peter Obi, Labour Party, LP
11. Musa Kwankwaso, New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP
12. Okwudili Nwa-Anyajike, National Rescue Movement, NRM
13. Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP
14. Kola Abiola, Peoples Redemption Party, PRP
15. Adewole Adebayo Social Democratic Party, SDP
16. Malik Ado-Ibrahim, Young Progressive Party, YPP
17. Dan Nwanyanwu, Zenith Labour Party, ZLP

Some of the candidates have selected their running mates with no sweat but what is sure is that ALL of them must submit the names by Friday for INEC to fully confirm their candidature, in pursuance of the schedule as well as the new general elections regulations and guidelines which INEC released last week.

With the coming into force of the Electoral Act 2022, INEC said it had become necessary to review the commission’s regulations and guidelines to govern the conduct of elections. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act 2022 and the regulations and guidelines constitute this electoral legal framework.

With the release of the Regulations and Guidelines and the publication of the Strategic Plan (SP) 2022-2026 and Election Project Plan 2023 earlier, the Commission has virtually concluded the planning processes for the 2023 General Election nine months ahead of the election.

Epa Ogie Eboigbe, veteran journalist, broadcaster and public affairs specialist, writes on, and analyses current and historical issues with a ‘wise pen’.