The commission is contemplating conducting all elections, including the presidential poll, between January and February 2015.
All political parties are expected to submit lists of candidates they propose to sponsor not later than 60 days before the date appointed for a general election.
The parties may have either late October or November 2014 deadline to submit their lists of candidates. INEC has started preparations for the 2015 elections, beginning with the issuance of permanent voters’ cards and putting in place card readers.
A major challenge before INEC, however, is getting set for the general election, which will come up between January and February 2015. A source, who spoke with our correspondent, said there was no doubt that the campaign for offices in 2015 will kick off in 2014.
The source said INEC was trying to adopt the recommendation of the Justice Muhammadu Uwais Electoral Reform Committee to conduct elections early to allow time for litigation.
The source said: “I think all things being equal, the commission may allow campaign for offices to begin either in August or September 2014. “We are not pretending that we are going into a year of preparations for elections. At least a substantial part of half of the year will be countdown to the 2015 elections.
“The parties need to conduct primaries before they can submit the list of candidates to the commission. So, there must be campaign. “August or September campaign kick-off appears to be the most visible timeframe since Section 31 of the Electoral Act allows a party to submit its list of candidates at least 60 days to the poll.
“We are also aware that politicians might take advantage of some elections in some states to begin campaigns in earnest. What we will do is that we will enforce the law strictly to avoid the process being muddled up.”
The source also said Section 99(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended), allows INEC to allow campaign at least 90 days before any poll. The Section says: “For the purpose of this Act, the period of campaigning in public by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day.”
The source said as soon as INEC comes up with a clear picture of its plans, the parties would be notified of the allowable campaign period. The source said: “We are planning to hold elections between January and February 2015.
The luck we have is that the Electoral Act provides a window for INEC to determine the dates to fix for elections. “If you look at Section 25 of the Electoral Act, INEC is expected to organise elections 150 days or 30 days before the expiration of the tenure of office of any holder.”
The Section, which applies to all political offices, reads: “An election to the office of the President (as applicable to all offices) shall be held on a date to be appointed by the Independent National Electoral Commission in accordance with the constitution and this Act. “
An election to the said office of the President (as applicable to all offices) shall be held on a date not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of that office.”
Responding to a question, the source said the Electoral Act says “every party shall, not later than 60 days before the date appointed for a general election, submit to the commission in the prescribed forms, the list of candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections, provided that the commission shall not reject or disqualify candidate(s) for any reason whatsoever.”
Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said: “The 2015 elections will be held between January and February 2015. We are projecting towards that. “We are determined to make all elections as transparent as possible.” Nation
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