Lawan loses out, Akpabio in as INEC releases list of candidates

The name of Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, was conspicuously missing from the list of candidates for the general elections in 2023 released by the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC).

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday released the final list of presidential and National Assembly candidates for the 2023 general elections.

The duo of Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi and former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, were cleared for the election.

Umahi won the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial rerun primary held in Ebonyi South senatorial district on July 31.

Akpabio made the cut for Akwa Ibom North-West after battling with a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Udom Ekpoudom, for the right to represent APC in the 2023 elections.

No candidate was listed for APC in the Yobe North Senatorial District where Lawan is from.

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Lawan had battled with a former federal lawmaker, Bashir Machina, for the APC ticket in the district.

Machina, who won the party’s primary election held in Yobe North in May, had defied pressure from several quarters to withdraw for the Senate President.

In the statement, INEC said the decision to approve the list of candidates was in line with Section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 and item 8 of the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general elections.

The statement read: “In summary, all the 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.