INEC verifies particulars of 190 candidates in Plateau
INEC commenced its verification of the particulars of party candidates, with five, out of the 190 candidates screened in the Plateau centre, having problems with their particulars.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Logistics and Transport, Chief Anuka Uchala, who heads the verification team in Plateau, said that the candidates' turn-out was quite impressive.
Briefing newsmen after the exercise in Abuja, Uchala said that 190 candidates submitted their particulars for various posts, which included 11 governorship posts, 13 senatorial, 131 House of Assembly and 35 House of Representatives seats.
He cited the non-presentation of relevant documents as some of the problems which the five candidates had.
He recalled that one of the candidates presented only his primary school certificate, while another candidate did not even attach any document to the nomination form he submitted.
Uchala noted that if INEC had not verified the candidates' claims, there was no way it could have discovered those abnormalities in their forms.
``You can see now that the essence of this verification is to assist both the candidates and the parties in presenting credible candidates,'' he said.
He stressed that it would be counter-productive for any candidate to decide not to appear before the INEC verification team.
``There could be problems if there is a petition against such candidate or if his form has problems,'' he said.
``Such candidates stand disqualified, as INEC would not display their names in its final list of candidates,'' he added.
Uchala urged political parties and their candidates to fully cooperate with INEC in its efforts to conduct free, fair and credible elections this year.