6 Candidates Yet To Obtain 5,000 Signatures Required For Nomination

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on Monday disclosed that six aspiring presidential candidates are yet to meet the requirement of securing the signatures of 5,000 registered voters to qualify for nomination for the December 5th presidential election.

The commission has so far received 12 nomination submissions, while six other aspirants have withdrawn from the process.

The nomination which started on 3rd November, is scheduled to end on 14th November.

The six who withdrew include the All Inclusive Party, Gambia Action Party, National Unity Party which has opted to join the Team Gambia Grand Coalition, and three independent aspirants, Musa Jallow, Ismaila Jobe and Alkali Cham.

IEC chairman Joe Colley said four of the 12 submissions had not been processed because the aspirants had not paid the required D1 million deposit. They are the Democratic Party, Salieu Jallow, Alieu Sowe and Joseph Henry Joof.

The Gambia Labour Party’s submission was also not processed after its sponsored aspirant, Bakusa Dukureh, publicly acknowledged holding dual citizenship. His senior secondary school certificate has also been forwarded to the relevant authorities for verification.

Giving an update on the seven processed nominations, Mr Colley said Modou Lamin Sima of the Alliance of Progressive Citizens (APC) needed an additional 1,040 signatures to meet the national requirement of 5,000.

Independent aspirant Isatou Touray was required to provide 12 additional signatures from the Kerewan Administrative Area to meet the regional threshold of 200.

The nomination papers of Ansu Sanneh of the National Builders Party had been reviewed, but the IEC was conducting further verification of his citizenship. He was also required to provide 144 additional signatures from Banjul, 23 from Basse and 379 nationally.

Kebba Madi Bojang of the National Democratic Party also had his nomination papers processed, with further verification on-going on his senior secondary school certificate. He needed five additional signatures from Banjul, 21 from Kanifing and 1,914 nationally.

Independent aspirant Bakary K Badjie was required to provide additional signatures from six administrative areas: 125 from Banjul, 36 from Kanifing, 110 from Kerewan, 127 from Mansakonko, 44 from Janjangbureh and 91 from Basse. He also needed 2,310 additional signatures nationally.

Ebrima Tabora Manneh of the People’s Alliance Party needed 57 additional signatures from Kanifing, eight from Mansakonko and three from Janjangbureh, alongside 1,507 signatures nationally.

Mr Colley said the nomination exercise was continuing, with more aspirants expected to submit their papers before the 14th November deadline.

“The IEC will keep you updated on the nomination papers received, processed and or corrected,” he said.

He added that the commission would announce the names of the candidates in due course.

Meanwhile, Talib Bensouda of Unite had his nomination papers processed without any further documentation or signatures required.