ABUJA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Wednesday set the ball rolling for registered political parties to launch their campaigns for votes ahead of next February's general elections in the most populous African country.
With the stage now set for political parties to hold their campaigns or rallies, 18 presidential candidates will jostle for votes across the 36 states in Nigeria. All political parties in the country and their key candidates have at least 147 days or over four months to traverse the country to discuss their manifestos with the electorates.
The electoral body has fixed Feb. 25, 2023, for the presidential and National Assembly elections, while the governorship and state assembly elections will hold a week later. A total of 84,004,084 voters have been registered by the INEC to participate in the forthcoming elections, according to official data released in August.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party, banking on a broader political base and structure across the country, on Sept. 23 named a 422-member campaign team to work assiduously in securing its victory in next year's presidential election.
The party, however, postponed its campaign activities Wednesday, saying the delay was to expand the list of the campaign team members, "to accommodate more stakeholders and interests within the APC family," according to Governor Simon Lalong of the central state of Plateau, who is the director-general of the ruling party's campaign council.
Bayo Onanuga, a spokesman for the ruling party's campaign team, told Xinhua over the telephone that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate, had planned to unveil his manifesto in the state of Kwara on Oct. 8.
"However, Tinubu is not in the country right now. His manifesto is ready as we speak but when he returns to the country, we will set a date for its official unveiling," Onanuga said.
Launching its campaign Wednesday, the country's main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with a strong base in the southeastern part of the country, said it aimed to set Nigeria on a "recovery plan" which focuses on restoring "Nigeria's unity through equity, social justice, collaboration, and consensus among our diverse peoples."
The PDP also listed plans to ensure security, job creation, poverty eradication, a strong and resilient economy, and the strengthening of the education system.
Arabambi Abayomi, the spokesman for the country's Labor Party, which mainly targets the youth and first-time voters, said in a statement that the political group was still strategizing on its campaign, hence the delay in the public presentation of its manifesto.
The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), a new political group, with a fast-rising base in the northwestern part of the country, said it was also delaying the launch of its presidential campaign by one week.
"We are set for the campaigns. We already have a total of 29,600 social media accounts across all platforms and that is intimidating enough to overrun all other political parties, including the party in power," Agbo Major, the national spokesman for the NNPP, told Xinhua over the telephone.
Speaking Tuesday at an event in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, President Buhari said the 2023 general elections would be conducted in a free and fair manner.
"I am highly optimistic that we will conduct a good transition process at the end of which a new set of political leaders will freely emerge," he said. "I want to state again, as I did just a few days ago at the United Nations General Assembly, that we remain committed to free and fair elections." ■