2023: How Peter Obi, Tinubu, Others Can Substitute Running Mates — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed how the 2023 presidential candidates of the various parties can substitute their running mates.

Per reports, most of the presidential candidates chose their running mates and they are for the time being serving as space or place keepers.

What the above means is that such vice-presidential candidates would be substituted later on as they were submitted to beat the deadline provided by the Electoral Act.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) beat the deadline by submitting the name of Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Bola Tinubu from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) chose Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) gave INEC the name of his Campaign Director-General, Doyin Okupe.

During an appearance on Arise TV on Monday morning, INEC’s National Commissioner of Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, disclosed that the running mates can only be substituted only if they write to the commission with an attached affidavit.

"The law says that as a presidential candidate, you must nominate an associate to run with you and as far as the Independent National Electoral Commission is concerned, the presidential candidates have submitted their associates to run with them in the presidential election.

“As far as we are concerned, there’s no form submitted by the presidential candidate where they said ‘we’re submitting this person’s name as a place or space holder’.

“The issue of space or place holder is a unique Nigerian invention that has no place in our constitutional and legal framework,” he said.

“Politically parties’ candidates have submitted names of associates to run with them and that is the position of the law as of today and nothing has changed.

“For there to be a substitution of a candidate, the Vice presidential candidate must write to INEC, with a sworn affidavit stating that he is withdrawing from the race within the time frame provided by the law. That’s the only way there can be a substitution of candidates.”