 The Independent National Electoral Commission is once again urged to extend the deadline for the party primaries ahead of the 2023 elections. And over 20 aspirants remain in the All Progressives Congress as several others stepped down due to several reasons, including Section 84, Subsection 12, which says that public officers must resign before taking part in a party's primary. You're welcome to Plus Politics, and I'm Kofi Bartels. You're welcome back, Northam Group, the Our Rower Youth Consultative Forum, as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to consider extending the conduct of party primaries ahead of the 2023 general elections. Now the group noted that the call has become imperative in view of an increasing tension across the country, occasioned by banditry. Also they're citing the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUS Strike, and other issues as responsible for their call. Now INEC provided for parties to conduct their primaries for the nomination of candidates from April 5 to June 3, 2022, it's just around the corner. Also a human rights organization under the aegis of the Center for Transparency Advocacy has raised concern over the request by the Inter-Party Advisory Council, otherwise known as IPAC, to shift the deadline for political parties to conduct their primaries. They described it as misplaced. Now IPAC had earlier asked INEC to extend the deadline for the commission, the commission rather had given to political parties, and of course, like I said, it's just around the corner. Now what are the pros and cons of a call for INEC to extend that deadline? We have joining us, I'm glad to say, tonight on Plus Politics at Chike Chudei, he's a political analyst, and we have Ifedayoyan Ura, who is a political analyst, gentlemen. Thank you for joining us on Plus Politics. Thank you. All right. What are your thoughts on this call, I mean, the deadline is just around the corner, and we have parties rushing to meet up, you know. Is it a right call for INEC to extend its deadline for party primaries? I'll start with you, Chudei. What do you say to this? Well, you know, the call came in sometime ago by IPAC, and now this other group you're talking about is also reiterating that call. My position then, when I make that call, just, I mean, it's the same thing as, you know, like right now, it's a position that aligns with that of INEC, and that is known to the call for shifting of the date for parties to hold their primaries. And don't forget that when you're talking about parties now, you're talking about even though that call was made under the platform of IPAC, you know, but it is essentially a call for the APC and the PDP, the two dominant parties in the system, you know, to shift their primaries. And like I said, I align with the position of INEC, which is a FEMNO, and INEC gave them this, INEC of course has a lot of things to do, and INEC has been able to establish a kind of process that, I mean, it will take leading on to the 2023 presidential, I mean, general election in the country. And the argument of INEC is that essentially once they do that, once they shift the date, then all the other dates that INEC has also a map for its own internal processes, administrative processes, will also have to be shifted. And then of course, don't also forget the argument then, you know, before the Electoral Act was eventually passed by the National Assembly and sent to the President for assent. INEC had already signed a note of warning that there was no time anymore, and that whatever they needed to do with the gas of the Electoral Law, the Electoral Act and the passage by National Assembly and the signing by the President should be done quickly to allow INEC to be able to have adequate time to prepare for the elections. And so INEC is saying that once they are able to shift this, the date for this presidential, every other thing that INEC has to do with also be shifted. And that they do not have time on their side. And actually, the election is just some moons down the corner. And I agree with them absolutely. Look, the politicians knew these dates, they knew the dates before now, and then they needed to get their house back. And even the fund the excuse they are giving is laughable that they have a lot of internal issues, internal crisis that they want to be able to put in order before their primary. And it is not the responsibility or the business of INEC to give them time to suffer their internal issues. They've always had internal issues. I mean, look at after the 2015 election, for instance, there was crisis, the post election crisis within the APC and within the PDP and the set of various reconciliation committees to go around the country to resolve their differences. If they were not able to resolve these differences from 2019 to the present time, are they asking INEC to give them one more month to be able to do that, something that they have not done in over three years? So it doesn't make sense and I do not think that INEC has any business accommodating the five votes of the politicians. All right, I'll come over to you if you are on the same page with these groups calling for INEC to extend its deadline for parties to conduct and conclude their primaries and internal processes. Well, I think what we should be more concerned about is the position of law that is in line with the 2022 electoral hard. I will repeat and re-enact that opportunity. On this point, the section 84 of section 1 of the said electoral hard is so clear that that section states that a political party illuminate candidates for elections under this act shall hold primaries for aspirants to hold elective positions and shall be monitored by the commission. Then section 82, subsection 1, also state that every registered political party shall give the commission at least 21 days notice, which of course many of these political parties are biasedly with and I know to best of my knowledge that they have done that already. Now section 39, subsection 1, state that every political party shall not later than one in an 80 days, that is six months, before the date appointed for a general election under this hard, submit to the commission in the prescribed, that what I mean is prescribed forms, the list of the candidates the party propose to sponsor an election who must have emerged from valid summaries conducted by political parties. Don't forget, at least one in an 80 days before the date appointed for general election. This is still an affirmative position of the law and as we speak, Annex has already fixed date of 2023 general election to February 25th, 2023 for the presidential and national out of assembly elections. Meanwhile, these laws have already provide legal framework for regulating the position of the independent national national commission over the conduct of elections in Nigeria. I've been empowered by the 1999 constitution of the Republic of Nigeria under section 153 to organize and oversee the conduct of elections in Nigeria. So, therefore, as far prior we all agreed the commission to be, I think what is expected of the political actors is to respect the rule of law and whoever wants to scheme to endeavor to do that within the position of law and stop discouraging the system and stop acting up and see some of the leaders as a way of manipulating the commission at the expense of our electoral process that we are all still advocating for to be well and more informed. Political parties that are clumped money or are in need to shift date for primaries is just as if when we are telling a coach to shift code posts, which are called local for. The commission has been empowered by the constitution. We regard them as empire. We did not discourage them. Whenever they bring a board, minds don't know the force. We are not unaware of what is going on. Yes, Ife Dayo, Ife Dayo, Iyan Yura, thank you very much. I've listened to you, I've listened to you today. You're sounding like, you know, adjusting election timetables or moving elections forward, changing the dates is sort of a taboo in politics. It's going to sound a death knell as far as democracy in Nigeria is concerned. It's going to be the death of all of us. So it's sacrosanct, something that cannot be touched. But all over the world, in Nigeria, we have examples. Elections have been postponed, gentlemen. Dates have been changed before. So is it that it's unknown to us? Is it that it is such a bad thing that cannot be done or what? Anything change if the parties are calling for, you know, some parties are calling for the dates to be changed and, you know, for more time to allow the parties to put themselves together? I'll come back to you, Icheke. Inaik has a responsibility to have a mandate. And then their mandate is outside of the, normally, interference of the political parties. And so, like I said, Inaik has a lot of talent. Inaik's talent is to organize elections for the whole of this country. You know, and that is a very big issue. And also, don't forget that there have been constraints in terms of, you know, release of money to Inaik. In most cases, Inaik does not have money's release to it. As and when due. So that causes a lot of constraints but the term money is eventually released to Inaik. So Inaik takes all of this to consideration in taking a decision. Yes, the political parties can make a request. They have made a request, but it behooves on Inaik to consider that request or the request favorably or favorably. And in this case, they have said and they have looked at their own logistical issues and logistical challenges. And they have said they will not be able to accommodate this request by the political parties and that the political parties have a duty to put their house in order. You know, and that is what they expected to do. Because look, the political parties are aware of especially the dominant political parties. They are the ones in control of the national assembly, the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is their members that were involved in passing the Electoral Act. You know, the president is a member of one of the political parties, the APC and all that. So the politicians have an idea or they had an idea about the timelines within which elections are going to be held. And then having passed the Electoral Act and then Inaik came up with a table of events that will lead to the election, which includes the organizing of the primaries also. So it is only reasonable that the political parties from day one would have started the process to make sure that their houses are put in order so that they can organize their primaries in a fair and transparent manner. And so they are not asking Inaik to give them. But my argument is that they have had three years to be able to put their house in order to sort out some of the crisis that they managed from the 2019 election. If they were not able to do that, why would one extra move given to them by Inaik be enough for them? Look, the reality is that elections will go. The reality is that the political parties will field candidates and will participate in the election. So they don't even need Inaik to interfere by extending, by giving them extra time. They know what to do. And once they realize that there is no way that Inaik is not going to give them that extra time, they will work within the time that they have to ensure that they organize their primaries properly. And I think they can do it. I think they are just being lazy, asking for extra time. But like Inaik says, giving you this time would also distort our table for preparation for the election. And I do not think that the politicians should burden Inaik with their own problem and then create a different problem for Inaik while Inaik is trying to solve their own problem. I'll stay with you before I go back to Efele. You're saying the parties have had enough time. You're saying they've had three years. But if we look at it in actual fact, they've had only three months. March, April, May. May is still on. Two and a half months. Have you noticed a sense of urgency and a hurry to try and get things done? Because there was really nothing happening while we were all waiting. And of course, canvassing, the electoral act should be passed. And when it was passed, it should be signed by Mr. President. There was a lot of drama with that. You both are way gentlemen of all that transpired with the President sending back an unsigned document to the National Assembly for deletion or omission of some sections. And Inaik released its timetable and shadow of activities on February 26, 2022, sir. And if you look at the timetable, the notice of election in February 28, 2022, the parties had done nothing at that point, gentlemen. I mean, let's just go back in time. They had done nothing. We didn't even know who their aspirants were. They were not going around the country. They were not meeting delegates. They were not canvassing for anything. And the parties now have to move from ending of February, March. They have one month. April, they have two months. May, they have three months. To June 3. In fact, the commencement of the primaries is from 4th of April, which is a month ago. Everything seems to be in order. The issue is this. You have to remember the reasons the party gave to Inaik. The major reason the party gave the parties gave to Inaik, you know, that prepared them asking Inaik for extension to give them extra time or extra amount of whatever it is to be able to put their house in order. That is the reason to put their house in order, that they have some divisions, there are so many things that they need to do to settle the internal issues. The internal issues are not the creation of Inaik. Inaik has no business with that. And like I'm saying, look, Inaik can as well ask for extra time. But then Inaik, I mean there is a mandate, Inaik has a mandate to conduct elections as specified by the constitution. So regardless of when Inaik, the Electoral Act was signed by the president, Inaik will have to begin from that to make preparations for the election. Inaik could as well have said, look, look, the events meeting to the signing of the Electoral Act, the late, the whole process and all that. So where the Electoral Act was not passed on time, and we need an extra six months to be able to organize an election beyond the time given to them by the constitution. So why Inaik? Inaik is not giving that excuse. Why would the parties also give an excuse? Because Inaik is not only the political parties that are working against time. Inaik is also working against them, and they are not giving any excuses. They are not asking for extension. So this is what I'm trying to say. And besides, the political parties have structures and that these issues, whatever issues they want to resolve within themselves, that have been there since 2019, they had a duty. And immediately after the election, they got to work, setting up committees to go around national reconciliation committees and all that. They are going around the country trying to reconcile their problems. The problems are not reconciled up to this dimension. What they are saying, and they are asking Inaik to give the party an extra two weeks, an extra, you know, one month or two months to be able to reconcile this. What they have not been able to do all this while, you know, not for six, you know, three years, three years plus. Are they going to do it in one month? They are not. So Inaik has, I mean, has done the right thing by refusing because, I mean, by refusing, and you're going to see how the political parties are going to respond. They will just go back knowing that they have limited timeline within which to walk to solve their issue. And they are given a certain of these issues. They have no hundred percent. But I do not think that they should because they want Inaik to solve their problems in the process. Inaik creates the problem for itself to be held responsible for by Nigerians if they have certain challenges that Nigerians do not have the expectation of them. All right. I'll come back to you. Ifeta, you're Yanihura. Your counter-matterment program tonight has said, you know, the parties have had ample time with which to put their house in order. Do you agree with him? Let's also consider the fact that the controversial sections of the electoral act are still the subject of our court processes. In fact, I'm sure you're aware that we've got an appeal court set aside the judgment on section 84, section 12, six days ago. And we have the Supreme Court, you know, also setting a date to hear appeals on this particular electoral act still in court. Have the parties had ample time from when this was signed by the president to when Inaik released. It's time to run February 26 to be all concluded by June 3. Ifeta, you're Yanihura. Well, let me take it clearly. To the rest of my knowledge, many of these political parties have already notified Inaik for their party primaries. Some think late May, why some think early June, do first to the preside. But you see what we've seen at the moment is just the politics, game of politics, the intrigue aspect of it. There are some political actors somewhere. All right, because let me tell you the story. In Inaik, it's a conglomeration of four derogatory political parties. And it's a major stakeholder with Inaik. It serves as intermediary between the commission and the undirected political parties through the body of deputy members. Now, because of the relationship between the high park and Inaik, I must tell you expressly that there are some political actors somewhere wanted to hide under the opportunity of the relationship between the high park and Inaik to now be sending high park to Inaik to shoot this post. Because I am telling you expressly that many of these political parties have already notified Inaik for their party parameters, respectively. And let me tell you what is playing out. Many of these actors, in their respective fields, especially the governors, they have promised so many people would just want to get. You will see a governor that promised about 10 people due to that ticket of a certain district. You will see a governor that has already promised about 10 people to be successful in office. Now, this new electoral herd has poached these kinds of pancreas of politicians to corner. They are in disarray, they are confused. And the only way out now is to have enough time so that they can perfect their scheme. So how would they go about this? You should get on Inaik to shoot post. There is no way they can speak to Inaik from their office. That is why they are trying to look out for a better avenue to reach out to Inaik. And I must tell you that a better avenue to reach is this high park. Because Inaik recognizes high park as the major stakeholder. So if Inaik and the commissioner with the positional issues If Inaik, you've talked about high park, but we also have the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum. Now they are citing the insecurity in the northern part of the country, increasing tension across the country, occasioned by a banditry and as a strike amongst others. How about that? That is not a misuse. The last at the NABRA election, there was crisis back to back. Before the election, there was a threat of property, yet elections took place there. So if we if we allow this issue of security threat to have negative effect on the control of elections in Nigeria, I must tell you this that in future many of these desperate political actors will be causing crisis to get over Inaik for an election to be postponed. So we should not see that as an excuse. At the moment now we know the situation we find ourselves in the issue of insecurity. And then we stand in elections where we are being consulted. The NABRA election was considered a FCT election was considered an NABRA state. We all knew how traits were coming out from different corners. Failed to NABRA state government election. Yet election was considered there. Ifadaio, Iyanuura we have to leave it at that. I want to thank you very much. Ifadaio Iyanuura is a political analyst and Achike Chude is also a political analyst. Gentlemen, we've had a very interesting time with you on Plus Politics tonight. Thank you for your time. Hope to have you sometime soon. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. We'll take a short break now and when we return we discuss the remaining our progressives congress presidential as parents as several have stepped down. We'll be right back.