The Atiku Abubakar media office and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have offered conflicting accounts over whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) granted nomination portal access to Nafiu Gombe.
The disagreement followed claims by Gombe’s group that it
uploaded the names of presidential and other candidates to INEC’s nomination
portal.
On Monday, the Atiku media office alleged that INEC granted
a nomination portal access code to Gombe despite recognising the David Mark-led
leadership of the ADC.
The media office noted that Gombe’s claim that it uploaded
candidates’ names could only have been possible if the commission had issued it
an access code, and accused INEC of bias.
However, in a statement on Monday, Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC
national publicity secretary, said the claim was false.
Abdullahi said INEC issues nomination portal access only to
the leadership it recognises and does not provide two access codes to the same
political party.
“The African Democratic Congress (ADC) wishes to draw the
attention of the media and the general public to false reports claiming that a
group led by Mr. Nafiu Bala Gombe has uploaded the names of a presidential
candidate and other nominees to the INEC nomination portal. The claim is a blatant lie,” the statement
reads.
Abdullahi said INEC could not have granted nomination portal
access to Gombe’s group.
“INEC does not issue nomination portal access or nomination
codes to a leadership it does not recognise. Secondly, the Commission will not
issue two codes to the same party,” he said.
“Otherwise, every impostor would simply upload names to the
portal and proclaim themselves the authentic leadership of a political party.
That is plainly not how the law or the Commission’s processes work.”
ADC SEEKS INEC PROBE
The party asked INEC to investigate what it described as the
unauthorised use of documents purportedly issued by the commission.
“We are also, by this statement, formally drawing the
attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to what
appears to be the forgery and unauthorised use of documents purportedly
emanating from the Commission in a manner capable of creating confusion and
undermining public confidence in its integrity and reputation as Nigeria’s
electoral umpire,” Abdullahi said.
“We trust that the Commission will investigate this matter
and take the necessary steps to correct this blatant misrepresentation.”
The ADC noted that it is not factionalised and that the leadership recognised by INEC had already completed the nomination process.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the African Democratic Congress
is not factionalised. INEC has issued nomination portal access only to the
leadership it recognises, and that leadership has duly concluded the party’s
nomination process in accordance with the Electoral Act and the Commission’s
guidelines,” Abdullahi added.
“As we informed the public last week, the details of our
Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (GCON), and our Vice-Presidential
Candidate, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi (CON), have been uploaded on the INEC
portal. Those are the facts.”
The party urged its members, supporters and the public to
disregard what it described as false reports and rely only on its authorised
communications.
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