APC pressuring INEC to undermine us after Kwankwaso’s defection – ADC

By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA — African Democratic Congress, ADC, has accused the All Progressives Congress, APC, of putting pressure on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to interfere in its internal affairs, saying there was coordinated effort to destabilise the party following the defection of Rabiu Kwankwaso.

The party said this goes beyond an internal dispute, warning that what was happening raised serious concerns about whether Nigeria’s electoral body could remain independent, especially at a time  political alignments were beginning to shift.

The allegation is contained in a statement by ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, who accused figures within the ruling party of using an ongoing legal dispute as a tool to weaken the party’s leadership.

According to ADC, the pressure is linked to a March 28 letter written by a group of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, said to be acting on behalf of an expelled member, asking INEC to act on a disputed interpretation of a Court of Appeal ruling on status quo ante bellum.

“African Democratic Congress, ADC, has observed a coordinated attempt to pressure the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, to destabilise the David Mark-led leadership of the party,” ADC said.

The party tied the development directly to Kwankwaso’s move, suggesting it had unsettled the ruling party and triggered efforts to discourage more high-profile defections.

It said; “The decision of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to join our party has understandably sent jitters through the ruling party. Since then, top officials within the federal government have renewed their onslaught against our party, in a bid to discourage other high-profile figures.

“In the said letter, the writers even went ahead to threaten the INEC chairman with arrest if he does not grant their request within seven days.

“Obviously, what the authors of this vexatious letter are attempting to do is to pressure INEC to take sides and grant them what no court in Nigeria has granted.”

On the dispute itself, the party rejected claims by a former official of the party to its leadership, insisting he neither held the position he now claimed nor remained a member.

The party said: “For the avoidance of doubt, Nafiu Bala Gombe, who is claiming to be aggrieved over the ADC leadership, was never the chairman of ADC.

“Any attempt to recreate a ‘status quo’ that upgrades his position to national chairman of ADC at any point in time is, at best, fictitious.

“No amount of pressure, no manufactured confusion, and no distortion of legal processes will stop what is already in motion. The ADC is growing. Nigerians are joining. A credible opposition is taking shape.”

“We call on INEC to remain guided by the constitution, resist all forms of pressure, and uphold its duty as an impartial umpire.

“This is bigger than the ADC. It is about whether Nigerians can freely choose a different path. And that must not be compromised,”

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