THE impending contests for elective positions gathered further traction with the emergence of the presidential candidates of the 18 registered political parties.

According to the electoral timetable issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the political parties are to submit their nomination forms for the Presidential and National Assembly elections between Friday June 10, 2022 by 9.00am and Friday, June 17, 2022 by 6.00pm. This week is the deadline for the emergence of the person and political party that will determine the fate of this nation from May 29, 2023.

Very formidable presidential candidates have already emerged. These include former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who is flying the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, and Bola Tinubu, the standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Also, Rabiu Kwankwaso has emerged for the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP, while little-known Dumebi Kachikwu, has picked the ticket of the African Democratic Congress, ADC. The rest of the political parties are also battle-ready.

However, the open campaigns will have to wait until September 28, 2022. The prolonged hiatus between the nomination of candidates and actual campaigns is to enable INEC to conduct the Ekiti State and Osun State off-cycle governorship elections, process the newly-registered Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs, and clean up the electoral register in preparation for the general elections of February and March 2023.

We call on the political parties and their candidates to embrace the upcoming campaigns and elections with utmost responsibility, patriotism and care for the survival of our rather fragile polity. We note with delight that the candidates of the two main parties – Tinubu and Atiku – congratulated each other when they were nominated. We want to see the same spirit of sportsmanship actually demonstrated throughout the rest of the transitional season.

Let the campaigns be strictly issue-based. With Nigeria on its hands and knees, particularly in the areas of security, the economy, education, health, power and energy, and haunted by corruption at all levels, we want to hear the presidential candidates articulate to us how they plan to fix this country and bring back the good times.

We do not want false promises. Nigerians do not want a repeat of our past experience when they were seduced with a litany of mouth-watering promises which were never fulfilled. The PDP and APC have ruled this country and brought us to this sorry pass. Any blame-game propaganda should be seen as a return to the use of deceit to win votes. Away with the “One-chance” syndrome! Eligible Nigerians should get ready with their voter’s cards and use them wisely.

Let our current travails show us the way to go.