Senate President Godswill Akpabio, his deputy, Senator Jibrin Barau, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Monguno and Senator Adams Oshiomhole have received Candidate Affidavit Forms (EC9) and are among the candidates whose names are being uploaded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal, it was learnt yesterday.

Also, four governors – AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (Adamawa) and Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe) – have been cleared by the ruling party to contest Senate seats.

Also cleared are former Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, Senator Shehu Sani and Senator Sunday Marshall Katung to contest Senate seats in Kaduna State.

Former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello secured the party’s ticket for the Kogi Central Senatorial District.

They are among the 109 senatorial candidates running on the platform of the ruling party.

The uploading of candidates’ particulars, a continuous process, followed the ratification of the results of the April shadow polls and a careful review of the list, in line with the outcome of the Primary Appeal Reports and INEC guidelines.

For the House of Representatives, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, James Abiodun Faleke and Mudashiru Obasa are among candidates flying the ruling party’s flag.

How parties are uploading to INEC portal

Political parties are expected to upload the names and particulars of their presidential and National Assembly candidates on the nomination portal between 9am on Saturday, June 27, and 6pm on Friday, July 10, when the portal will automatically close.

The documents to be uploaded include Form EC9, containing candidates’ personal particulars, and Forms EC9A, EC9B, EC9C, EC9D and EC9E, containing the names and lists of nominated candidates.Ahead of the exercise, the commission conducted a two-day training for political party officials on the use of the INEC Candidate Nomination Portal (ICNP).

The training was held on Thursday and Friday, after which parties were issued access codes.

It was conducted by officials of the ICT Department in line with the commission’s established practice of ensuring stakeholders are adequately prepared for electoral processes.

Acting Director-General of the Electoral Institute, Prof. Ibrahim Sani, stressed the importance of candidate nomination as a fundamental stage of the electoral process.

According to him, the success of any election begins with the proper nomination of candidates, adding that political parties must fully understand and comply with the legal and procedural requirements guiding the process.

Yero, Shehu Sani, Katung receive forms

Former Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero and Senator Shehu Sani received Form EC9 from Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani.

They will join incumbent Senator Sunday Marshall Katung as the ruling party’s senatorial candidates in next year’s election.

The issuance of Form EC9 to Shehu Sani ended weeks of speculation that his candidacy for the Kaduna Central Senatorial District could be substituted before the close of nominations.

Although the former senator confirmed on Monday night that he had received the form, he declined further comment, saying it was premature to speak on the development.

Yesterday, however, Shehu Sani posted a photograph on his WhatsApp status showing Governor Sani presenting him with the INEC Form EC9.

He captioned it: “Officially the confirmed candidate, In Shaa Allah.”

Katung was elected to the Senate in 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before defecting to the APC, citing what he described as the democratic dividends attracted to his constituency by the administrations of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani.

Former Governor Yero also received Form EC9 for the Kaduna North Senatorial District, completing the APC’s list of senatorial candidates for the state.

Governors to meet Yilwatda

Following complaints by aspirants who lost out after the appeal panels’ recommendations and ratification by the National Working Committee (NWC), the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) yesterday resolved to meet APC National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.

States affected include Ondo, Benue, Kwara and Kogi.

PGF Chairman Hope Uzodimma told reporters that the APC was putting its house in order ahead of the general election.

He said: “We have resolved to engage the APC national leadership, led by Prof. Yilwatda, to harmonise strategies for the next phase of the party’s campaign and strengthen internal cohesion before the general election.

“We must work closely with the NWC to strengthen the party’s structures and improve our overall readiness for future elections.”

Uzodimma said the governors also deliberated on broader issues of governance and national stability in view of public concerns over the current socio-economic situation.

He added: “We did not just look at the elections; we looked at the state of the nation.

“We have resolved to work towards solving the challenges facing our democratic space and ensuring that our people are better off.

“Our ultimate commitment is to ensure that Nigerians benefit more from APC-led administrations.”

Governors at the meeting included Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Abba Yusuf (Kano), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), Agbu Kefas (Taraba), Ahmad Aliyu (Sokoto), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Nasir Idris (Kebbi), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom) and Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti).

Party receives over 700 petitions

On the ongoing process, APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka said: “The priority of the party now is for all our candidates to complete their INEC nomination forms and have them uploaded to the INEC portal.

“The successful people – those who emerged as candidates of the party – are being provided with the relevant forms for documentation.

“They are to complete and return them to the party for upload to the INEC portal.”

He added: “So, making the list public is not our priority now.

“Although we will eventually release the list, our immediate priority is to ensure that our candidates complete their forms and meet the INEC deadline.

“This is more important to us than the public release of the candidates’ list. Those who are our candidates have, by now, received their forms.

“They already know themselves. There is no tension about that.”

Morka said the ruling party received over 700 petitions from aggrieved aspirants challenging the outcome of the primaries.

He said the party painstakingly reviewed every petition before making adjustments to the list.

“For those who were aggrieved, we took our time to undertake a very thorough review of all the petitions that came after the primaries. There were over 700 petitions, and each was properly vetted,” he said.

According to him, the review produced mixed outcomes, leading to corrections in some constituencies.

“Some were successful, and some were not. Those who succeeded led to corrections in some constituencies. Those that were unsuccessful meant those earlier declared remained.

“In a few cases, there were upsets based on the outcome of the petitions, and decisions were taken accordingly.”

Morka said the petition process had ended and that the current list of candidates was final.

“We have gone past that stage. The people filling the forms today are those who emerged originally without challenge and those who emerged through the appeal process. This is the outcome of the review. (The Nation)