The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 17 political parties have fielded candidates for the September 21 Edo governorship election.

INEC stated this in a statement by Sam Olumekun, its national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee in Abuja on Wednesday.

Mr Olumekun said that the 17 parties had successfully uploaded their candidates’ nomination forms for the election on the INEC portal before the 6 p.m. deadline on March 24, when the dedicated portal automatically shut down.

He said that the personal particulars of the candidates and their running mates would be published by the commission on March 30 in line with Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.

“The commission shall publish the personal particulars by displaying copies of Form EC9 along with all academic credentials and other documents submitted by each candidate at the state headquarters and the 18 local government offices across Edo,” he said.

Mr Olumekun appealed to Nigerians to scrutinise the documents when published.

He said that any aspirant who participated in his/her party primaries with reasonable grounds to believe that the information provided by the candidate was false could challenge the nomination.

He added that such could be changed in a Federal High Court as provided in Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act, 2022.

(NAN)