From the Tribune:

THE Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Maurice Iwu, has ruled out the possibility of extending the substitution of candidates by the political parties in the April polls which closed yesterday.

Speaking at a one-day interactive forum organised by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command on peaceful and violence-free 2007 elections, held in Abuja, Professor Iwu ruled out the possibility of extending the date, saying that time was not on the side of the commission.

Professor Iwu, who was represented at the occasion by Mr. Setley Baze, National Commissioner of INEC in charge of the FCT, Kogi, Taraba and Nasarawa states, explained that the extension would not be possible as the photographs of the candidates would be printed on the ballot papers to be used during the elections.

He said that gone were the days when candidates of political parties were being substituted at will which created confusion and problems for the commission.

Professor Iwu, told the forum that the commission had put in place several innovations aimed at ensuring peaceful, free and fair elections in the country including the use of Direct Data Capture machines for the compilation of a voters’ register.

He pointed out that as part of efforts to put an end to cases of snatching of ballot boxes during collation of election results, the commission had resolved that election results would now be transmitted to the collation centres through electronic devices while political parties would have to submit the names of their agents to the commission at least two weeks before the elections for proper screening.

By the Electoral Act 2006, substitution of candidates for president and National Assembly elections closed yesterday.

BlackMamba:

Does anyone know if Atiku replaced his running mate by the deadline? I read that Pat Utomi and Senator Obi were in the mix.

Does anyone know if Atiku replaced his running mate by the deadline?  I read that Pat Utomi and Senator Obi were in the mix.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has formally informed the Action Congress (AC) on why its presidential candidate, Vice President Atiku Abubakar has not been cleared to contest in the general elections holding in April.

Politicians vying for various elective positions in the forth-coming elections now face a fresh hurdle as the Joint Tax Board (JTB) has requested the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to forward to it (JTB) the list of all candidates and their documentation with a view to verifying their Tax Clearance Certificates (TCCs)