Niger State Independent Electoral Commission (NSIEC) has disclosed that 805 candidates from 10 political parties have indicated interest to contest for the Chairmanship, Vice-Chairmanship, and Councillorship in the local council elections slated for 1st November 2025.
The Chairman of NSIEC, Engineer Mohammed Jibrin Imam, revealed this to newsmen at a media chat held at the commission’s headquarters in Minna during the official flag-off of the campaign for the election.
He explained that 69 Chairmanship, 66 Vice-Chairmanship, and 670 Councillorship positions from the 10 political parties have indicated interest in the election across the 25 local councils of the state.
According to Imam: “The 10 political parties include: (1) All Progressive Congress (APC), (2) People’s Democratic Party (PDP), (3) Social Democratic Party (SDP), (4) ZLP, (5) Labour Party, (6) Booth Party, (7) National Rescue Movement (NRM), (8) Action Alliance, (9) Accord Party, and (10) Action People’s Party.”
Engineer Imam urged the political parties and their candidates to adhere to the guidelines on the conduct of campaigns as stipulated in the commission’s guidelines.
He also drew the attention of the participating parties to the fact that they must realize that their utterances and conduct during the campaigns would enable a peaceful and successful local council election.
The NSIEC boss maintained that while the campaigns are ongoing, the commission would continue to implement other activities remaining on the timetable, which include publication of notice of polls and official declaration of 1st November as the date for the election, to be announced on 1st September 2025.
“As our journey towards the November 1st, 2025 local council elections progresses, it can rightly be said that the 2025 local council election is smoothly on course, and from today, the political parties are officially allowed and cleared to commence public campaigns until 31st October 2025.”
He stated that the political parties participating are also expected to submit the names of their agents to respective electoral officers in their local councils, adding that the exercise has been largely successful, though it has not been without challenges, which have been occasioned primarily by the lackadaisical attitude of some political parties to the timetable, stressing that it has not derailed the implementation of the scheduled timetable.
Imam’s words: “As we enter this next crucial stage of campaigns, we urge the political parties to adhere strictly to extant laws guiding these elections, just as the commission would remain an unbiased umpire,” he assured.
The Chairman lauded the major stakeholders—Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), various security agencies, the journalists, and non-governmental organizations—for their support and cooperation.
