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Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has set June 17, 2022 deadline for presidential candidates to name their running mates.

It also set a July 15 deadline for state elections.

INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said this in a statement on the commission’s social media pages.

“Similarly, the list of all Presidential and Governorship candidates must be accompanied by the names of their running mates (i.e. Vice Presidential and Deputy Governorship candidates) without which the nomination is invalid,” Thursday’s update from the INEC chairman read.

“All nominations must be uploaded to the portal on/or before the deadlines. The portal will automatically shut down at 6.00 pm (1800hrs) on Friday 17th June 2022 for national elections and 6.00 pm (1800hrs) on Friday 15th July 2022 for State elections.”

As of the time of publishing this report, no leading candidate for the presidential election has named their running mate.

While the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer Atiku Abubakar is expected to name a running mate from the southern regions of the country, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu is expected to pick a northerner as his vice presidential candidate.

For Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) candidate, being from the southern region of Nigeria, analysts believe his running mate will be from the northern part of the country.

Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has also not named his running mate.

The former governor of Kano State is believed to be contemplating picking the party’s vice presidential candidate from the south of Nigeria.