The National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) says the party has uploaded the name of its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination portal.
In a statement issued on Monday, the party leader said the NDC had appealed a recent court ruling and filed an application for a stay of execution. The documents, the statement said, had been served on the INEC Chairman and the commission.
The statement added that the party had been granted access to the INEC portal to upload the names of its candidates in line with the electoral timetable.
“My name and that of the presidential candidate have been uploaded to the INEC portal, while that of the vice-presidential candidate will be done tomorrow upon completion of the deposition. The process is also ongoing for other candidates,” the statement read.
The NDC said it remains a duly registered political party that has taken part in all political processes. It also said its primary elections were conducted under the observation and monitoring of INEC.
The party said the emergence of candidates for different elective offices had been completed and that only the administrative process of submitting their names to INEC remained.
It noted that, under the INEC timetable, it has until July 11 to upload the names of its National Assembly candidates and until July 17 to submit those of governorship and State House of Assembly candidates.
The National Leader urged party members and supporters not to panic, saying there was enough time to complete the submission process.
The statement acknowledged disagreements during the party’s primaries but said reconciliation efforts had begun to unite aspirants and stakeholders across the country. It assured unsuccessful aspirants they would be included in campaign structures, committees and other party activities, describing them as the grassroots strength of the NDC.
The National Leader congratulated all NDC candidates, members and supporters and called for the protection of Nigeria’s multi-party democracy.
The statement also praised INEC for what it described as professionalism in handling the party’s registration and other electoral processes. It urged the commission, the judiciary and security agencies to remain neutral in protecting the country’s democratic institutions.
The party said that, with the appeal and related applications now before the courts, it expects the judiciary to decide the matter in line with the law.
