Ahead of the November 16 governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says some political parties submitted governorship and deputy-governorship candidates that are below the minimum age prescribed by the constitution for the positions.
Under the “Not Too Young to Run Act” signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, candidates standing for governorship elections are expected to have attained the age of 35 to be eligible.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Festus Okoye, said yesterday in Abuja that the commission will notify the concerned parties soon and subsequently consider further action.
He said in accordance with the Electoral Act and in line with the timetable and schedule of activities for the Bayelsa and Kogi states governorship elections, INEC will on Friday 13th September 2019 publish the personal particulars of nominated candidates for the elections.
He said the personal particulars of the nominees will be published on the notice boards of INEC offices in Yenagoa and Lokoja.
“From our records, 64 political parties conducted primaries in Bayelsa State as against 59 in Kogi State. Out of these, 52 political parties for Bayelsa State and 49 for Kogi State respectively submitted the list of candidates and their personal particulars at the close of nomination at 6pm on Monday 9th September 2019.
“While some of the political parties that conducted the primaries did not submit any list and personal particulars of candidates, a few failed to submit within the time limit prescribed by the commission.
“Out of the 101 nominees for the two states, 91 are males, representing 90 percent, while 10 are females, representing 10 percent of all the nominees. Of the 52 nominees for Bayelsa State, 6 are females, while 46 are males. The corresponding figures for Kogi State are 4 female and 45 male nominees,” Okoye said.
