INEC Final List of Successful Candidates for National Elections 2023

INEC Final List of Successful Candidates for National Elections 2023

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC – Nigeria) has released the final list of candidates (Presidential, Senate, and House of Representatives) for national elections in 2023.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC – Nigeria)

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in its regular weekly meeting held on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, has approved the final list of candidates for national elections (Presidential, Senatorial, and Federal Constituencies) under section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 and item 8 of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.

The publication of the full names and addresses of all nominated candidates follows the political parties’ conduct of primaries and completion of the nomination exercise. Nigerians may recall that at end of the process, the personal particulars of all nominated candidates were displayed in their constituencies nationwide as provided by section 29(3) of the Electoral Act.

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Subsequently, validly nominated candidates had the opportunity to voluntarily withdraw their candidature by notice in writing and personally deliver such notice to the political party that nominated them for the election. Thereafter, political parties substituted such candidates under section 31 of the Electoral Act for which the last day was 15th July 2022 for national elections and 12th August 2022 for State elections as clearly provided in item 6 of the Commission’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities.

Thereafter, no withdrawal or substitution of candidates is allowed except in the event of death as provided in section 34(1) of the Electoral Act or under an order of a Court of competent jurisdiction.

INEC List of Successful Candidates for Governorship and State Constituencies 2023

The list of INEC Candidates (PDF) published contains the names of candidates validly nominated for national elections at the close of party primaries and the period earmarked for withdrawal and substitution of candidates. The INEC final list of candidates for State elections (Governorship and State Constituencies) will be published on 4th October 2022 as already indicated on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.

We note the fact that not all the political parties conducted primaries in all the constituencies, submitted the particulars of candidates that emerged from valid primaries, or substituted their candidates after fresh primaries within 14 days as provided in section 33 of the Electoral Act. This has led to numerous litigations, some of which are ongoing. Where the Commission was served with Court orders by aggrieved aspirants or candidates before the publication of this list, these have been indicated under the remark column.

The INEC list for successful candidates are published here for download PDF in each State where they are located while the comprehensive nationwide list has been uploaded to the INEC website.

Summary

In summary, all the 18 political parties have fielded candidates and their running mates for the Presidential election. For legislative elections, 1,101 candidates are vying for 109 Senatorial seats and 3,122 candidates for Federal Constituencies (i.e. House of Representatives seats, making a total of 4,223 candidates contesting for 469 legislative positions).

In terms of gender distribution, 3,875 candidates are male, made up of 35 for Presidential and Vice Presidential, 1,008 for Senate, and 2,832 for House of Representatives. Similarly, 381 females comprising 1 for the Presidential, 92 for the Senate, and 288 for the House of Representatives are contesting. There are also 11 Persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the race.

We appeal to all political parties to channel any observations on the list of candidates to the Commission and such must be signed by the National Chairman and Secretary of the political party and supported with an affidavit as provided in section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2022.