By our reporter| The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday declared that the concept of “placeholder” for vice-presidential candidates “has no place in the country’s constitutional and legal framework”.
Festus Okoye, the commissioner for information and voter education of INEC, who made the disclosure in an interview with Arise Television following reports that some political parties submitted names of their vice-presidential candidates as ‘placeholders’ pending the nomination of actual candidates, said the “placeholder is a unique Nigerian invention” for which the commission’s law has no provision.
Okoye further stated that the commission can only replace a candidate if the person writes a “sworn affidavit stating that he is withdrawing from the race within the time frame provided by the law”.
He said, “The constitution makes it very clear that you cannot run alone as a presidential candidate and must nominate an associate to run with you for that position, and as far as INEC is concerned, the presidential candidates have submitted their associates to run with them in the presidential election.”
“As far as we are concerned, there’s no form submitted by the presidential candidate where they said ‘we’re submitting this person’s name as a place or space holder’.
“The issue of space or place holder is a unique Nigerian invention that has no place in our constitutional and legal framework.
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