The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the concept of “placeholder” for vice-presidential candidates is not recognised by the constitution of the electoral umpire.
Festus Okoye, INEC Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, disclosed this while speaking in an interview on AriseTV monitored by Okay.ng on Monday.
According to him, the “placeholder is a unique Nigerian invention” for which the INEC’s law has no provision.
“The constitution makes it very clear that you cannot run alone as a presidential candidate and must nominate an associate to run with you for that position, and as far as INEC is concerned, the presidential candidates have submitted their associates to run with them in the presidential election,“ Okoye said.
“As far as we are concerned, there’s no form submitted by the presidential candidate where they said ‘we’re submitting this person’s name as a place or space holder.
“The issue of space or place holder is a unique Nigerian invention that has no place in our constitutional and legal framework.
“Political parties’ candidates have submitted names of associates to run with them, and that is the position of the law as at today and nothing has changed. For there to be a substitution of a candidate, the vice-presidential candidate must write to INEC, with a sworn affidavit stating that he is withdrawing from the race within the time frame provided by the law. That’s the only way there can be a substitution of candidates.”
INEC had fixed June 17 as the deadline for the nomination of vice-presidential candidates.
However, according to reports, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP) are among other parties submitted placeholders as temporary vice-presidential candidates for replacement later.
