Acrimonious party primaries may affect 2019 polls, warns INEC boss

• ‘Few Parties Nominated Candidates Below The Mandatory 35’
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that it was grappling with 396 pre-election litigations pending in various courts across the country.

Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, made this revelation yesterday in Abuja during a capacity building workshop for INEC press corps, noting that the development poses a serious challenge to the commission.The implication of this, according to him, is that as the commission prepares for the forthcoming general elections, it is at the same time grappling with the litigations.

Yakubu lamented that the country witnessed some of the most acrimonious party primaries in its political history, noting that it might affect the smooth conduct of the general elections.He revealed that at the end of the period for the substitution and withdrawal of candidates for presidential election, a total of 73 political parties filed their nominations.

Out of these numbers, few parties nominated candidates below the mandatory age of 35 years. “We have drawn the attention of the parties concerned to the breach of the constitutional requirement ahead of the publication of the full list of the presidential and vice presidential candidates for 2019 general elections,” he said.