Inec to disqualify some candidates in Kogi and Bayelsa elections over age falsification

NIGERIA'S Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) has said it will disqualify some of the  governorship and deputy-governorship candidates in the November 16 elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States for age falsification.

Later this year, the two states will hold gubernatorial elections and already, the two main parties the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and all other contestants, have selected their candidates. However, according to Inec, some of the aspirants declared false ages on their declarations forms, so it will soon be notifying the candidates of their disqualification.

Festus Okoye, Inec's national commissioner and chairman of its information and voter education committee, said the personal particulars of candidates nominated by political parties for the elections would be published on today. He added that this is in accordance with the Electoral Act and in line with the timetable and schedule of activities for the governorship exercise.

Mr Okoye said: “The personal particulars of the nominees will be published on the notice boards of our offices in Yenagoa and Lokoja. As required by law, the commission monitored the primaries of the political parties and the list of candidates who emerged has since been published on our website and other platforms.

“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 and 49 for Kogi, respectively, submitted the list of candidates and their personal particulars at the close of nomination at 6pm on Monday, September 9, 2019.

He added that out of the 101 nominees for the two states, 91 were male, representing 90%, while 10 were female, representing 10% of all the nominees. According to Mr Okoye, of the 52 nominees for Bayelsa, six are female and 46 are male, while in Kogi State, four are female and 45 are male.

Mr Okoye said: “The commission has observed from a preliminary review of the list and personal particulars submitted by the political parties that some of the governorship and deputy-governorship candidates are below the minimum age prescribed by the constitution for these positions. The commission will notify the concerned parties soon and subsequently consider further action."