2023: Take Disciplinary Action Against Any Party That Fails To Meet Primary Election Deadline, Kalu Urges INEC

Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to take disciplinary action against any political party that fails to meet the June 3 deadline set by the Commission for all political parties to conduct their primary elections ahead of 2023 general elections.

Sen. Kalu was reacting to call by some political parties on INEC to extend the deadline, wondering what the parties have been doing since February when the deadline was set.

In a statement Wednesday, Sen. Kalu, representing Abia North attributed this attitude to why people don’t keep to appointments in Nigeria, urging the commission to be firm and not bow to pressure to extend any deadline.

He cautioned that if the deadline is extended, there will still be more requests for extension of deadline, a development the former Abia governor predicted could cause confusion.

He said, “Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been inundated with calls to extend the conduct of Primary elections beyond June 3rd . The commission had in February earmarked April 4 to June 3 for the conduct of party primaries.

“Amidst these calls for extension, I urge INEC to take disciplinary actions on any party that fails to meet up with the designated dates . INEC made the dates known as early as February and kept a reminder to all parties through March and April about the commission’s plan to stick to the timetable

“It is therefore embarrassing and speaks volume of the indiscipline in this country for any party to advocate for extension of date . Most Nigerians do not respect and keep time, that is why appointments are not kept and people continue to give flimsy excuses .

“What have the political parties been doing since February? Is that how to behave in a country? What is the actual benefit of not keeping to rules? INEC should understand that if it succumbs to the pressure of shifting it to a fresh date, the parties would still request for another grace of extension thereby causing confusion everywhere.

“I encourage INEC to stand firm on their decision and deliver as promised.”