By JOHN NWOKOCHA, Abuja

The President of the Senate, Dr Lawan Ahmad is conspicuously missing out in the final list of presidential and National Assembly candidates of all the political parties contesting the 2023 general elections released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday.
Lawan, whose nomination for Yobe North was being challenged by another member of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bashir Sheriff Machina, has been facing controversies as his party failed to nominate him, consequently he did not make the list.
But Godswill Akpabio was fortunate to make the INEC’s list
While Lawan’s legal battle with Machina, who is challenging him on the grounds that he did not contest the primary election for the senate, might have cost him the ticket, as he was fighting to win the presidential nomination of his party at the time, Akpabio was lucky following a court order a about a week ago, which instructed INEC to include his name, same as Umahi.
A similar scenario played in Abia Central as the INEC’s list shows that the APC is represented following legal contests between Hon. Sam Onuigbo and Hon Emeka Atuma, who were challenging each other in court for the ticket. Consequently, while the ruling APC is not represented in Yobe North, the party is also affected in Abia Central.
A statement by the INEC national commissioner in charge of publicity and chairman voter education, Festus Okoye, also shows that 11 Persons with Disability (PWDs) made the list. Also, one female presidential candidate is among 381 female contestants for various positions in the next year’s elections.
According to the statement, the breakdown shows the following:
“In summary, all the 18 political parties have fielded candidates and their running mates for the presidential election.
For legislative elections, 1,101 candidates are vying for 109 senatorial seats and 3,122 candidates for Federal Constituencies i.e. House of Representatives seats, making a total of 4,223 candidates contesting for 469 legislative positions.
“In terms of gender distribution, 3,875 candidates are male, made up of 35 for presidential and vice-presidential, 1,008 for Senate and 2,832 for House of Representatives. Similarly, 381 females comprising 1 for Presidential, 92 for Senate, and 288 for House of Representatives are contesting. There are also 11 Persons with Disability (PWDs) in the race.
“The list for specific constituencies is published in each state, where they are located while the comprehensive nationwide list has been uploaded to the commission’s website.
“We appeal to all political parties to channel any observations on the list of candidates to the Commission and such must be signed by the National Chairman and Secretary of the political party and supported with an affidavit as provided in section 32(2) of the Electoral Act 2022”.
Okoye said the commission also approved the final list of candidates for national elections (Presidential, Senatorial and Federal Constituencies) pursuant to section 32(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 and item 8 of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.
He said the publication of the full names and addresses of all nominated candidates followed the political parties’ conduct of primaries and completion of the nomination exercise.
Okoye further said, at end of the process, the personal particulars of all nominated candidates were displayed in their constituencies nationwide as provided by section 29(3) of the Electoral Act.
According to him,validly nominated candidates had the opportunity to voluntarily withdraw their candidature by notice in writing and personally deliver such notice to the political party that nominated them for the election.
“Thereafter, political parties substituted such candidates under section 31 of the Electoral Act for which the last day was 15th July 2022 for national elections and 12th August 2022 for state elections as clearly provided in item 6 of the Commission’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities.
“Thereafter, no withdrawal or substitution of candidates is allowed except in the event of death as provided in section 34(1) of the Electoral Act or pursuant to an order of a Court of competent jurisdiction.
“The list published today contains the names of candidates validly nominated for national elections at the close of party primaries and the period earmarked for withdrawal and substitution of candidates.
“The final list of candidates for state elections (Governorship and State Constituencies) will be published on 4th October 2022 as already indicated on the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election.
“We note the fact that not all the political parties conducted primaries in all the constituencies, submitted the particulars of candidates that emerged from valid primaries or substituted their candidates after fresh primaries within 14 days as provided in section 33 of the Electoral Act.
“This has led to numerous litigations, some of which are ongoing. Where the Commission was served with Court orders by aggrieved aspirants or candidates before the publication of this list, these have been indicated under the remark column.
Thus, the presidential candidates of all the parties participating in the next year presidential elections are: All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima.
Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate and his running mate, Ifeanyi Okowa.
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed.

Osita Nnadi, presidential candidate of Action Peoples Party (APP) and his running mate, Isa Hamisu.
Abiola Kolawole, presidential candidate of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and his running mate, Ribi Marshal, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party and his running mate, Bishop Isaac Idahosa.
Yabagi Sani, presidential candidate of Action Democratic Party (ADP) and his running mate, Udo Okey -Okoro, Ado-Ibrahim Abdulmalik, presidential candidate, Young Progressives Party (YPP) and his running mate, Enyinna Kasarachi.
Omoyele Sowere, presidential candidate African Action Congress (AAC ) and his running mate, Garba Magashi, Mamman Dantalle, presidential candidate of Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and his running mate Ojei Princess, Chukwudi Umeadi presidential candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and his running mate Koli Mohammed.
Oluwafemi Adenuga, presidential candidate of Boot Party (BP) and the running mate Turaku Mustapha, Daberechukwu Nwanyanwu, presidential candidate of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and the running mate, Ramalan Abubakar, Dumebi Kachikwu presidential candidate, African Democratic Congress (ADC) and his running mate, Ahmed Mani.
Hamsa Almustafa, presidential candidate, Action Alliance (AA) and his running mate Chukwuka Johnson, among others.
•Lawan, Akpabio