With four opposition political parties producing more than one presidential candidate at the end of their primaries, the Independent National Electoral Commission has once again come under heavy scrutiny, Davidson Iriekpen writes
By the time the primaries of the political parties ended on May 30, four opposition parties, African Democratic Party (ADC), People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) submitted the names of more than one presidential candidate each to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
While the ADC submitted the names of three candidates to the commission, PDP, LP and SDP came up with two each based on their factionalisation. Though INEC did not witness some of the primaries, the various factions of the opposition political parties communicated their intentions to hold the elections to the electoral umpire.
Even when the electoral commission has until August 29, 2026, to publish the final names of the presidential candidates of the political parties based on its guidelines, not a few have argued that by allowing illegal factions to hold alternative primaries, the electoral umpire is complicit in destabilising the parties.
