Controversial writer and Professor of Journalism Farooq Kperogi has said that facts uncovered from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) allegedly show that Labour Party’s Peter Obi may become Nigeria’s president next year by default.
In an essay released on Saturday, Kperogi stated that Peter Obi might be ‘gifted’ the presidency because Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar, candidates for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) respectively, have violated the Electoral Act 2022, which may cause them to be disqualified if Obi or his Labour Party decides to them.
According to the academic scholar, the Electoral Act requires political parties to notify INEC of their intent to conduct primary elections at least 21 days before the date of their convention and also requires parties to submit their membership registers to it at least 30 days before their primary election. He stated that the APC didn’t meet the first requirement, and the PDP failed the second requirement. The Labour Party met both.
Documents an INEC insider shared with him allegedly showed that the APC didn’t notify INEC of its intent to conduct its primary election 21 days before its convention.
Section 82 of the Electoral Act says the penalty for this infraction is outright disqualifying the candidates of the political parties.
Section 82 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022 says, “Every political party shall give the Commission at least 21 days’ notice of any convention, congress, conference, or meeting which is convened for the purpose of ‘merger’ and electing members of its executive committees, other governing bodies or nominating candidates for any of the positions specified under this Act.â€
