- 26 female presidential candidates ready for battle
As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) published the final list of presidential and National Assembly candidates on Thursday for the 2019 general elections, 26 female candidates were shown to be prepared to battle their men counterparts in the presidential election. They made it to the INEC list of authentic candidates for the general elections.
Two states, Rivers and Zamfara, were missing on the INEC list of candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress for the governorship and National Assembly elections. The exclusion of the APC candidates in Rivers and Zamfara states was consequence of the intractable crisis in the party. However, the INEC list of candidates was said to be approved by the Secretary of Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony.
Moreover, the Social Democratic Party had no presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
INEC explained that the exclusion of SDP presidential candidate from the final list was because of the court order which disqualified former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, as SDP presidential candidate.
A Federal High Court, Abuja, had stopped the APC from presenting candidates in Rivers and Zamfara because of the failure of the party to resolve its internal crises on the conduct of its primaries.
More so, political parties which endorsed the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on the platform of the Coalition of United Political Parties, had their presidential candidates and vice presidential candidates included on the list.
The list contained 26 female candidates in the presidential and vice-presidential race.
The educational qualifications of the candidates were also displayed.
The presidential candidate of the APC, President Muhammadu Buhari, submitted a First School Leaving Certificate, West African School Certificate and a certificate simply written as “CDT.”