Following the incidents of litigations on party candidates nomination for elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission says it will only receive communication from any organ of the party except the chairman and the National Executive Council of the party.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahood Yakubu, announced this during a meeting with party chairmen in Abuja on Friday.
He noted that in the past, state chapters and the national body of parties would send different names of political candidates for the same office.
Yakubu, however, said the Supreme Court had ruled that the national body of a political party was the one charged with the duty of communicating with INEC.
Yakubu said, “The supremacy of the National Executive Council to inform the commission of dates, venues and membership of committees to handle the conduct of primaries is key. The Supreme Court has ruled that only NEC can submit the list of candidates to INEC.
“We will not accept nomination or even invitation for the conduct of primaries from the branches. It is only the national executive of political parties that can contact us. It has happened before and it led to serious litigation.
“The chairmen should stand firm. Only you can submit the names of candidates for election and only you can advise the commission on when you will conduct primaries. Otherwise, we will end up with conflicting information.”
Yakubu urged the party chairmen to ensure that primaries were free and fair, adding that the number of electoral cases in court were too many.
