What The Law Says On Qualification To Contest For The Post Of President…

A person shall be qualified for election to the office of President or the National Assembly if:-... 

"....he has been educated up to at least the School Certificate level or its equivalent..."

FOR the purposes of electing the President and members of the National Assembly of the
Federation, the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (hereinafter referred to as the "Commission") in exercise of the powers vested in it by Section 4 of Decree No. 17 of 1998 as amended hereby makes the following guidelines.
 

Presidential and National Assembly Elections

1. There shall be presidential and National Assembly election at which:

(a) a president shall be elected for the Federal Republic of Nigeria;

(b) one Senator shall be elected from each of the three senatorial districts allotted to each of the 36 states of the Federation and from the one Senatorial District allotted to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; and

(c) one member of the House of Representatives shall be elected from each of the 360 Federal Constituencies in the Federation.

Qualification for Election

2. A person shall be qualified for election to the office of President or the National Assembly if:-

(a) he is a citizen of Nigeria;

(b) in the case of President, he has attained the age of 40 years;

(c) in the case of Senator, he has attained the age of 35 years;

(d) in the case of Member of House of Representatives, he has attained the age of 30 years;

(e) he has been educated up to at least the School Certificate level or its equivalent; and

(f) he is a Member of a Political Party and is being sponsored by that party.

3. A person shall not be qualified to contest the Presidential and National Assembly elections if:

(a) under any law in force in any part of Nigeria, he is adjudged to be a lunatic or is otherwise declared to be of unsound mind;

(b) he is under a sentence of death imposed upon him by any court or tribunal in Nigeria, or a sentence of imprisonment or fine for an offence involving dishonesty or fraud (by whatever name called) or for any other offence (other than misdemeanor of simple office ) imposed on him by a court or tribunal;

(c) he has been found guilty of contravention of the Code of Conduct under the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Decree 1989

(d) he is an undischarged bankrupt, having been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in any part of Nigeria or any other country;

(e) being a person employed in the public or civil service of the Federal or of a state or of a local government area council, he has not resigned, withdrawn, or retired from such employment thirty days before the date of the election;

(f) he is a member of a secret society:

(g) he has been indicted for embezzlement of public funds or for bribery or fraud by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry, an administrative panel of inquiry or a tribunal under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act or any other law set up by the federal, state or local government which indictment has been accepted by federal, state or local government respectively.

(h) he has presented forged certificate to the commission. (I) he has been dismissed from the public or civil service of the Federation or of a state or of a local government or Area Council;

(j) he has been found guilty of an offence involving narcotic drugs or any other psychotropic substance by any court or tribunal in Nigeria or in any other country; or

(k) he has been adjudged guilty of treason or treasonable felony by any court or tribunal in Nigeria.
 

Additional Qualifications for Contesting Election

4. A person shall be qualified to contest the Presidential or National Assembly elections if:

(a) he is ordinarily resident in the constituency in which he intends to contest the election or is an indigene of that constituency;

(b) he is registered as a voter in the Constituency in which he intends to contest the election or is an indigene registered anywhere in the country;

(c) he produces evidence of tax payment as and when due for a period of three consecutive years immediately preceding the year of the election or is exempted therefrom;

(d) in the case of House of Representatives election, he has been nominated in writing by twenty persons from at least two-thirds of the wards in the local government or Area Council making up the constituency and whose names appear on the register of voters for the Federal Constituency in respect of which the election is to beheld;

(e) in the case of Senatorial election, he is nominated in writing by 30 persons coming from all the local government areas making up the Senatorial District where he intends to contest the election, whose names appear in the register of voters for their respective wards.

(f) in the case of Presidential election, he is nominated in writing by 60 persons spread in at least two-thirds of all the states of the federation whose names appear in the register of voters for their respective wards;

(g) in the case of House of Representatives election, he makes to the Commission an unrefundable deposit of N15,000 (Fifteen Thousand Naira);

(h) in the case of Senatorial election, he makes to the Commission a non-refundable deposit of N20,000.00 (twenty thousand naira);

(i) in the case of Presidential election, he makes to the Commission a non-refundable deposit of N100,000.00 (one hundred thousand naira);

(j) in the case of a presidential candidate, he has nominated a running mate for the office of Vice-President.
 

5. Subject to the provisions of any enactment or law, candidates shall campaign for the Presidential and National Assembly Elections in the following manner;

(a) campaigns shall be within the Constituency in which a candidate intends to contest the election;

(b) campaigns shall not be allowed within 12 hours preceding the date of the elections;

(c) campaigns or addresses shall be devoted to outlining what the candidate intends to do for the people of his constituency;

(d) campaigns or addresses shall not be carried out in schools, churches, mosques and other religious places, military or police barracks or stations, public offices and any other place the commission may forbid from time to time;

(e) campaigns or addresses shall not be based on sectional, ethnic or religious sentiments or prejudices;

(f) bribery or other forms of inducement to voters, either directly or indirectly, shall be avoided by candidates and the agents; and

(g) abusive or vile or derogatory language shall not be used during campaigns or addresses.