By John Ikani
A total of 4,223 candidates are contesting for 469 legislative positions in Nigeria’s 2023 general elections.
This is according to a final list of presidential and national assembly candidates for the 2023 general election released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday.
The electoral umpire in a statement yesterday said it approved the final list of candidates “pursuant to section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 and item 8 of the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general election”.
Analysis carried out on the list by Heritage Times (HT) revealed that 18 political parties have fielded candidates and their running mates for the Presidential election. For legislative elections, 1,101 candidates are vying for 109 Senatorial seats and 3,122 candidates for Federal Constituencies i.e. House of Representatives seats, making a total of 4,223 candidates contesting for 469 legislative positions.
In terms of gender distribution, 3,875 candidates are male, made up of 35 for Presidential and Vice Presidential, 1,008 for Senate and 2,832 for House of Representatives.
Similarly, 381 females comprising 1 for Presidential, 92 for Senate, and 288 for House of Representatives are contesting. There are also 11 Persons with Disability (PWDs) in the race.
Meanwhile, INEC stated that, “The final list of candidates for State elections (Governorship and State Constituencies) will be published on 4th October 2022 as already indicated on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.
It is worthwhile to note that Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on February 25, 2023 while governorship and state assembly elections will be held on March 11, 2023.
Download the full list here on HT below
