NSIEC Clears 753 Candidates to Contest LG Poll in Niger

By Laleye Dipo in Minna

The Niger State Independent Electoral Commission (NSIEC) has cleared 83 chairmanship and 670 councillorship candidates from nine political parties to contest this month’s local government election in the state.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have equal number of 25 chairmanship and 274 councillorship contestants.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is fielding nine chairmanship and 48 councillorship candidates, followed by the GPN, which has eight chairmanship and seven councillorship contestants and the ANP with seven chairmanship and nine councillorship contestants.

The NNPP is fielding four chairmanship and nine councillorship candidates, while the SDP and the NCP are fielding one each for chairmanship and councillorship candidates.

The Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Aminu Baba Alhaji, who disclosed this at the opening of a three-day “Train the Trainers” workshop organised in partnership with the the International Foundation for Electoral System (IFEST) for Electoral Officers and Assistant Electoral Officers, in Minna on Monday, said everything is set for the election taking place on November 30, 2019.

Alhaji commended the political parties for the orderly and peaceful way they have conducted their elections so far and charged them to keep the flag flying.

He said the training was part of the plan of the commission to conduct a hitch free poll.

“This training is to prepare you for and acquaint you with all that you need to conduct a free and transparent election,” the NSIEC chairman said.

The Programmes Manager of IFEST, Mr Solomon Fotolo, said the workshop would concentrate on training the participants on “Vote counting and election result management”.

Fotolo said IFEST had been engaged in similar training in parts of the country in the past which ensured success of the elections conducted and therefore asked the participants to take the exercise very serious.

All the electoral officers and assistant electoral officers in the 25 local governments of the state are attending the training.