2023 : INEC Trains Political Party Officials On Redesigned ICNP

In preparation for the 2023 General Election, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has begun training political party officials on the use of the redesigned INEC’s Candidate Nomination Portal, ICNP.

Declaring open the four-day training workshop for officials of political parties on the use of the Candidate Nomination Portal which is one of the technological innovations introduced by the Commission in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce physical interactions and automate its processes, Chairperson of the Legal Services, Clearance and Complaints Committee, LSC and CC, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, noted that the ICNP has been in use since the 2020 Edo and Ondo State Governorship elections.

She explained that the new provisions in the Electoral Act, 2022, which made provision for several technological innovations, has additionally given the Commission a general discretion to apply technology as it sees fit adding that the portal was recently redesigned to accommodate greater demands of a wider, general election nomination process.

According to the Chairperson LSC and CC, the training is of utmost importance to political parties as it will enlighten them on the guidelines for nomination of candidates and the new procedure of the ICNP bearing in mind that political parties will be submitting forms on the portal in respect of candidates they intend to sponsor for the various offices in One Thousand, Four Hundred and Ninety-Nine constituencies in Nigeria.

Speaking on the expected outcome of the training, Mrs Agbamuche-Mbu, said that at the conclusion of the training, political parties would have gained extensive knowledge on the new nomination process for the 2023 General Election, demonstrate practical knowledge on how to make submissions on the portal and be equipped with the approved Guidelines for the Nomination of Candidates for Elections.

The Director, ICT, Engineer Chidi Nwafor, in his welcome address, recorgnised the important role of the participants, who he said, were responsible for uploading the Nominations of Candidates in the off-season elections since the introduction of the portal in 2020.