INEC says 20, 000 candidates contesting general elections

The Independent and National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said that over 20,000 candidates will be vying for the various seats into the federal and the 36 states government in the 2019 elections.

The INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, made the revelation during a consultative meeting with the media at the headquarters on Tuesday. He said that the figure is the highest ever recorded in Nigeria’s election history.

He said that the Commission is yet to calculate the number of participants in the 68 area councils in the FCT, but promised that the calculation would be concluded within the next one week.

Yakubu started that those contesting the senatorial seats are 1,800 candidates and 2,600 participants vying for the 360 seats in the House of Representatives, of the National Assembly.

He further said that 14,000 persons are vying for the 991 state constituency seats, adding that elections will take place in 120,000 locations.

“Election will take place in 120,000 locations. So, please bear with us. In the next one week or so, we will have the statistics and it will be clearer for us when we can expect to make a declaration, but it’s not going to be a long wait,” Yakubu said.

INEC had earlier said that 84 million voters will be deciding the next government at all levels in the 2019 elections.