NEC gives Magufuli nod to contest for October polls

Dar es Salaam. The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has on Tuesday August 25 given John Magufuli and his running mate Samia Suluhu Hassan a nod to contest as Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates on the CCM ticket.
Dr Magufuli who is seeking re-election after serving as President of Tanzania since 2015, returned nomination forms in Dodoma at around 8:40am in company of his running mate, Ms Hassan and other party leaders including the party’s Secretary General Dr Bashiru Ally.
NEC chairman Judge Semistocles Kaijage declared that the forms had been duly filled and had met all the requirements set by the electoral body.
The two were provided with a set of forms for further official processes.
 Similar forms were also provided to the CCM Secretary General, Dr Bashiru Ally.
President Magufuli and his running mate, Ms Hassan collected NEC nomination forms on August 6 in Dodoma.
Dr Magufuli was accompanied by the party’s Secretary-General Dr Bashiru Ally, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai, party’s Women wing chairperson Gaudensia Kabaka and several other party cadres.
Like all other presidential aspirants, Dr Magufuli was required to fill in four sets of Form No. 8A that consist of 10 pages each that was to be used for collecting guarantors in 10 regions, at least two of them from Zanzibar.
Both the presidential candidate and his running mate were also handed with four copies of Form No. 10 each. They were required to fill and sign them before a High Court Judge.
They were also required to deposit Sh1 million with the commission whose receipts were attached with nomination forms on returning them to the NEC today.
According to the law, nomination forms for presidential candidates need to be signed by at least 200 guarantors by party members who are registered in the permanent voter’s registry.