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Tag: Inec

  • Jonathan withdraws Oyo INEC commissioner-nominee

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday withdrew the nomination of Prof Akinola Muritala Salau as a National Electoral Commissioner.

    The withdrawal letter on the nomination, dated 21 March, 2013, was read yesterday on the floor of the Senate by Senate President David Mark.

    The President said Salau’s replacement, who would have represented Oyo State in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), would be sent to the Senate.

    Entitled, Re: Confirmation of appointment of a National Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the letter reads: “I write with respect to my letter of March 14, 2013, on the above stated subject and wish to notify the Distinguished Senate that emergent circumstances have necessitated the withdrawal of the nomination of Prof Akinola Muritala Salau of Oyo State as a National Electoral Commissioner.

    “A replacement nominee will be forwarded to the Senate shortly.”

  • INEC: no registration for African Peoples Congress

    INEC: no registration for African Peoples Congress

    WHO has the franchise to the acronym – APC? The All Progressives Congress or the African Peoples Congress? This controversy will soon end.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday turned down the application of the African Peoples Congress, one of the three parties laying claim to the ownership of the acronym.

    The three parties are seeking registration with INEC.

    INEC had initially kept quiet over the rejection of the African Peoples Congress, but when the group cried foul, the electoral body came out to confirm the rejection, backing its action with Section 222 A of the Constitution.

    The party’s protem chairman, Chief Onyinye Ikeagwuonu, yesterday in a statement entitled: “A brewing storm”, alleged that the electoral body planned to deny it registration.

    He claimed have learnt that a letter to that effect was awaiting the signature of INEC chair Prof. Attahiru Jega.

    Copies of the unsigned letter were made availbale to newsmen in Abuja yesterday.

    Entitled: “Re-Application for Registration as a political party, the letter was on INEC’s letter-headed paper and dated March 21, 2013. It was addressed to Ikeagwuonu.

    The explanation for the rejection according to the letter, is that African Peoples Congress breached Section 222 (a) of the Constitution.

    Section 222 A states that “no association by whatever name called shall function as a political party, unless the names and addresses of its national officers are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission.”

    This, the letter claimed, was absent in the application of the group.

    The electoral umpire had initially denied the existence of such a letter.

    But the group made copies available to reporters in Abuja. INEC’s Director of Information, Mr. Emmanuel Umenger confirmed that the contents of the letter.

    The letter reads: “Your application for registration as a political party dated 28th February, 2013 refers. The commission has observed that your association is in breach of Section 222 (a) of the Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which stipulates as follows:

    “No association by whatever name called shall function as a political party unless; the names and addresses of its national officers are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission;. A close observation of your submitted form PA 1 established that it does not contain the addresses of your national officers as stipulated in the provisions above.

    “Consequently, the commission shall not register the proposed African Peoples Congress (APC) as a political party.”

    Umenger confirmed that INEC declined the application for registration of the group as a political Party.

    He said: “Yes, I am in receipt of a letter similar in content with the one you said was duly signed by INEC’s Secretary, Alhaji Abdullahi Kaugama and it has been delivered to the addressee (African Peoples Congress) and one Michael Ogani signed and collected the letter and dated it March 25, 2013.

    “The content is what you read to me earlier. The point of departure, as I spoke with you before now, was that the letter you had was not signed and because it was not signed, we could not ascertain its authenticity and because of that I declined to speak on it. But as soon as it came to my table, I felt that it was necessary to call you and inform you that I am in receipt of a letter and its content; the letter has spoken.”

    But Ikeagwuonu disagreed with the claims of the electoral body, saying that the excuse was flimsy.

    He said: “Our attention has just been drawn to a desperate effort by some paid INEC officials to conclusively consummate the black market transaction we warned about last Thursday, to deny the African peoples Congress registration, citing purported irregularities in the addresses of our national officers while the INEC documents required either residential address or phone number.

    “We had earlier alerted Nigerians about this high-level conspiracy and have thus been reliably informed today (yesterday) by an impeccable source that a draft letter denying APC registration is right now on the table of the INEC chairman, waiting for his endorsement.

    “This, if executed, would amount to a rape of our democracy, which we in APC would resist with everything we have.

    Just like we said in our briefing of Thursday, last week, we will not fold our hands and watch enemies of democracy masquerading as INEC officials run a roughshod over Nigeria’s democracy.”

  • INEC, APC and 2015

    From all indications, the 2015 elections are bound to have serious implications for the survival of this country. Already, events have been taking place in quick succession in so many fronts that should forewarn the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) it is not going to be business as usual.

    Before the 2011 elections, public confidence in the electoral process had waned very considerably. Voter apathy was at an all time high as the electorate found no reason to continue participating in elections when the outcome had already been predetermined. This negative disposition towards elections was as a result of the brazen rigging and manipulation of election results that had been our fate with previous exercises.

    Confidence in the electoral process was so shaken that it took copious assurance from President Jonathan that he was committed to free and fair elections and the appointment of Attahiru Jega as INEC boss before the people opted to give that election a chance. Given his antecedents then, Jega was given the benefit of doubt since he was considered a credible person. To be fair, the outcome of that election was an improvement on previous elections though it had its flaws largely at the presidential level.

    But events thereafter have thrown up very complicated challenges such that a measure of doubt has crept in regarding the continued impartiality of INEC in managing electoral matters. This suspicion has been such that a presidential candidate in the last election, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari had to accuse the electoral body of having merged with the PDP-led government. Expectedly, Buhari’s scathing remarks attracted criticisms from the government in power. But certain events in the nation’s political chessboard have continued to evoke doubts on whether the body can still be counted upon to conduct free and fair elections.

    There is the much speculated interest of President Jonathan to run in 2015 despite widespread opposition to that ambition from even within his own party, the PDP.

    This has so polarized the PDP that if it embarks on a general election as presently constituted, it is bound to suffer serious reverses. Do not mind its claims following last week’s elections into the Abuja municipality. Can INEC still hold on to its claim to impartiality if Jonathan decides to run despite the welter of opposition from within his party especially in the north? What of the formidable opposition posed by the merger of four political parties? Can Jonathan really make a headway given the armada of opposition against him both from within his party and without if the election is free and fair? From where does he derive the confidence that he can destroy extant structures of the party, hurting sections of the country and still have the comfort of mind that he will win if he eventually decides to run? Can he really make it in a free and fair election after bulldozing his way to capture unconventionally, PDP party structures in the fashion of Obasanjo without re-enacting the hi-tech rigging and falsification of results that marred that era? These are the issues that come to mind following the turn of events in the country. And they pose serious challenges to the electoral body.

    As if that was not enough, events since the merger plans of the four political parties ACN, CPC, ANPP and a faction of APGA were unfolded have also raised further stakes on the neutrality of the electoral body.

    Since the unveiling of the name, manifesto and logo of the emerging party, there have arisen some doubt on the neutrality of the electoral body. Here, one has in mind the unnecessary controversy over the acronym of the merging parties- All Progressives Congress APC. It is a matter of public knowledge that the merging parties had since announced APC as the name under which they intend to fly the flag of their new political party. It is also very well known that the merger took the country by storm given skepticisms that the attempt was going to fail.

    Though the ruling PDP rushed to congratulate its promoters, indications are that that party felt very uncomfortable with the turn of events. This is to be expected given that any gains recorded in the merger process would automatically pose serious challenge to it. It was not surprising therefore that as the merging parties were busy perfecting their papers to regularize the process, a phantom group, African Peoples Congress parading similar acronym, rushed to file papers with INEC to frustrate the merger process. Accusing fingers have been pointed at some INEC staff working in collision with the PDP-government to frustrate the merging parties from using that name. Some other groups have been at work, searching for other names with similar acronym just to frustrate the new visionary initiative.

    Why the abbreviation APC has become the beautiful bride just suddenly is a matter of conjecture. Why nobody discovered that ellipsis in the last 14 years of our democracy until the merging parties adopted it is also another issue. And what is there in a name? This poser has been raised to underscore most poignantly that there is more to the mad rush for the acronym than ordinarily meets the eyes. The PDP has been accused of high level desperation to scuttle the registration of the new mega party. And in this subterfuge, INEC has been fingered as a willing ally. The indecent speed with which the phantom APC claims to have met all registration processes and the certainty they seem to have on their party being registered are issues the give cause for concern. INEC is therefore on trial on this singular issue.

    As if this was not enough, the promoters of the phantom APC have gone ahead to further accuse INEC of colluding with the merging parties. They have even boasted they have the capacity to do this and that including challenging INEC up to the Supreme Court if they are not registered. And when one recalls that the promoters of the so-called party are very obscure persons who have been in similar roles before either by self or through proxy, their intentions become clearer. So from both sides INEC is being accused. The group has been likened to the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) of the Babangida era and there is merit in it. Their intention is clear and it is to create confusion and distract the opposition from the daunting task of providing a credible alternative political platform for the electorate.

    Consider the name African Peoples Congress. What is really African about this mushroom group? Can we possibly have an African Peoples Congress as a party in Nigeria at this stage of our political history? So what they intend to register is not a Nigerian political party but an African one with tentacles across our shores. Can we really register such a party in Nigeria today?

    The merging parties must take seriously the threat of this group to institute a protracted legal action against the INEC if it fails to register them. It shows they are out to play a spoilers’ game with zero interest in seeking people’s votes. They know that even if they are registered with that acronym, they remain just in name.

    But the strength of the merging parties has nothing to do with any particular name. It lies in the broad national alliances and consensus they have been able to build-alliances that have made them a very credible alternative to the PDP. That is the real issue to worry about and not a name that can be changed anytime. The progressives can as well leave them with that name, douse the noise and move on. It is not the name that makes a popular political party but the vision and people behind it.

  • INEC to issue new voter cards soon

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it would print permanent voter cards to replace the temporary ones issued in 2011.

    It assured that the location of polling booths at the palaces of traditional rulers would soon be stopped.

    INEC National Commissioner in charge of Bauchi, Borno and Yobe states, Mohammed Hammanga, spoke at Doho village during Saturday’s by-election at Kwami East Constituency in Kwami Local Government Area of Gombe State.

    He said: “We are working on delineation because according to the law, when a polling station is located in a place, you can’t change it until the new delineation. Hence we are using the old one. We are in the process of bringing out the new one.”

    He acknowledged voters’ willingness to exercise their franchise, but regretted the inability to present their temporary cards, hence the not too impressive turnout of voters.

    The Chairman of Kwami Local Government, Alhaji Ali Jiji Gadam, urged INEC to find time to revalidate the voter cards before any election due to the high rate of disenfranchisement arising from defacement and misplacement of cards.

    He attributed the peaceful conduct of the exercise to the advocacy for peace and the developmental activities of the government.

    Kwami East Constituency seat became vacant following the death of Abdulhameed Doho of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), who was shot dead in his home on January 16.

  • APC: INEC has not registered new party –Jega

    APC: INEC has not registered new party –Jega

    • Says commission will follow the rules
    • Dismisses electronic voting for 2015

     

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega said yesterday that the commission will adhere strictly to the rules in processing the applications for the registration of the All Progressive Congress and the African Peoples Congress.

    Both parties are keen on having the acronym APC.

    The All Progressive Congress is a fusion of the ACN, CPC and ANPP. It has accused the other APC of working for the ruling PDP with a view to thwarting the merger of the three parties.

    Professor Jega, speaking on a Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, Hausa programme Hanu Dayawa yesterday said “we have not even got to that stage (registration) now.”

    He said: “This issue has generated a lot of controversy in the last few weeks, but the truth is that no political party wrote to notify us that it was planning to merge with some other political parties until about five days or so ago.

    “Therefore, it is not true that we were notified. The issue became serious when one group came out to seek registration and I guess that was what made them to write and notify us. But that is not the issue. The main issue is that there are guidelines for registered political parties which want to merge to become a new party. There are also guidelines for individuals or groups who want to form a political party for registration.

    “The guidelines for registering a new political party are different from those for registered political parties wishing to merge. For registered political parties that want to merge, they must have agreed to merge and each of the political parties in the merger must hold a convention and agree to withdraw its registration as a political party to become part of the new party to be formed through the merger.

    “After their conventions, they are expected to write and request INEC to withdraw their former registration and say they want to join a new party. In spite of all the controversy, none of these political parties wishing to merge has held its convention.

    “We only read in the newspapers that they have the intention of merging and nobody wrote us until about five or six days ago. If anybody wants to register a political party, you are expected to tell INEC of your intention by saying that you want to register a party with so and so name and you want to know the procedure for doing so.

    “Only one group came. The group asked one lawyer to write INEC saying they want to form a political party with a particular name and they want to know the rules and procedures for registration as a political party.

    “If the other group had done so, we would have replied and told them the rules and the procedure they are supposed to follow to be registered. So, the issue of whether we have collected the name of this other group and whether we have agreed to register it does not even arise because we just replied to their letter by telling them the procedure.

    “While this was going on, some people started making noise saying that they wanted to merge with so, so name. Some of them were even saying that we have registered the other group with that name. It is not done like that.

    “People are just making noise over the name which is in the market while we have not even got to that stage. While all these noise was going on, another group came up seeking registration with the same acronym.

    “We have rules and guidelines for all this and we are determined to follow the rules to avoid any confusion. But we have not reached the stage where we can say a group has been registered with so, so name. So all this noise is just part of our politics in Nigeria.

    “After we explained this to them, they wrote back insisting that they should follow the guidelines. But we have not screened them yet because the procedure is step by step. Except INEC comes out to announce that it has registered so and so party, all this bickering is unnecessary.

    “If you want to register a company, before the company is registered, you will have to apply for a name which the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) will take some time to search. We don’t operate like this in INEC, but because of this controversy, we have learnt a lesson. I think at the end of the day, we will also adopt the same system to avoid this problem.”

    Prof. Jega also dismissed the possibility of using electronic voting system for the 2015 general election saying “the constitution has prohibited electronic voting. We have never said we will conduct electronic voting. What we said we will do is to use technology to improve on the registration of voters and improve on the electoral process”.

    He added that the commission is doing its best to ensure that the 2015 elections will be more credible than that of 2011, adding that “we have been working hard towards this. We have reviewed the past and we are looking at what we can do to improve on our performances.

    “Our challenges are an accumulation of problems over the years and we came within eight months and there was no how we could have overcome the rot that happened for over 20 years back. But we did our best without fear or favour. We have been transparent.

    “I can swear that I have been transparent and truthful. I have never tolerated unholy attitude that came to my knowledge. If there too much destruction, it takes time to repair and make things work and for people to appreciate the repairs. We have been tying.”

  • INEC increases party registration fee to N1m

    INEC increases party registration fee to N1m

    Worried by the reckless formation of parties, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has increased registration fee from N100, 000 to N1 million.

    INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega had a meeting with party leaders in Abuja yesterday.

    Some political parties, led by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), urged the commission to increase the fee to N5 million to prevent abuse of party system

    Also, the commission has put in place strict rules to monitor finances of all political parties in the country.

    These are the major highlights in the Draft Guidelines for Regulating Political Parties, which were presented to political parties at a meeting in Abuja for review.

    All the parties have one week to send in their written input on the draft before the final copy is produced by INEC.

    According to sources at the closed door session in INEC headquarters, the commission expressed worry about the emergence of mushroom parties.

    One of the sources said: “In the draft guidelines, INEC has proposed increase in the registration fee from N100, 000 to N1million. All the parties embraced the proposal and spoke about the prevalent abuse of party registration system.

    “The parties claimed that the N100, 000 rates accounted for the reckless applications for new parties. These irritants forming parties just look for N100, 000 and apply for registration because the fee itself is abysmally low.

    “In fact, the National Secretary of CPC, Buba Galadima, observed that N1 million is too small. He said the registration fee should be about N5million and above.

    “The parties at the meeting unanimously endorsed Galadima’s proposal that INEC should jack up the fee from its proposed N1million to N5miilion.

    “The electoral commission promised to look into further demand for the review of the registration fee by the parties.

    “The acceptance of the recommendation is at the discretion of INEC. But we are hopeful that it will listen to the parties. Certainly, the new guidelines are meant to check frivolous applications for party registration.

    Another source at the session said: “Our discussions focused on new guidelines on party registration, monitoring of finances, membership register with INEC, alteration of party constitution and delimitation of constituencies.

    “INEC has put in place comprehensive guidelines on how to track finances of political parties, including donations. With the new rules, parties are expected to make full disclosure of all accruable funds or generated funds either through members, donations by individuals or anonymous sources or other means. They will also account for every fund at their disposal which auditors will verify.

    “The essence of the new financial rules is to prevent moneybags from hijacking parties and to control funds limit, especially campaign funds.

    “With the new rules, INEC will also be able to determine when a party has exceeded the threshold allowed by law.

    A third source at the meeting explained that the draft guidelines deal with “verification of members of political parties. Each member of a party is expected to have biometric related particulars so that at the tap of a finger, any claim can be verified.

    “There will be no room again for impostors.

    “The parties also agreed at the session to hold quarterly meeting with INEC to resolve outstanding political and electoral issues to avoid heating up the system.

    “This session will take place every Tuesday of the last month in a quarter. We have decided to institutionalize INEC-Parties Quarterly Meeting because the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) has not taken off.”

    Responding to a question, the source said: “INEC made a detailed presentation on its plans to conduct delimitation of constituencies nationwide as part of its plans towards 2015 poll.

    “Although this is a constitutional requirement, the electoral commission said it chose to consult parties and other stakeholders to reduce tension that is usually accompanying such exercise.”

    It was gathered that in view of the sensitive nature of the guidelines, parties made a request for time to further consult with their leaders and members.

    The source added: “At the end of the day, INEC gave the parties a one-week deadline to make written representation or input into the guidelines.

  • INEC to meet party leaders

    INEC to meet party leaders

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is to meet political party leaders today.

    It is part of plans by the commission to entrench democracy in the country and to plug lapses in election monitoring.

    The parties will discuss the modalities on how to enhance their election monitoring abilities and create civic awareness.

    After the meeting, the parties are expected to train their agents on the best practices involved in conducting elections.

    The Nation learnt that the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) is excluded from the meeting owing to the leadership crisis engulfing the party.

    There are three factions laying claims to the leadership of the party.

    An Enugu State High Court recently sacked Sir Victor Umeh as the National Chairman of APGA.

    Shortly after, a stakeholders meeting convened by Anambra Governor Peter Obi appointed Maxi Okwu as the National Chairman.

    Former Deputy National Chairman Sadeeq Masalla is also contesting that the National Executive Council (NEC) had adopted him as the National Chairman in the wake of the crisis that consumed Umeh.

    A source told our correspondent in confidence yesterday that “APGA will not be part of the meeting because it is currently engulfed in leadership crisis.

    “There is no clear National Chairman for now because the party is yet to convene a national convention to elect its new leaders. INEC will not want to have a hand in the crisis.”

  • Rumpus in INEC over APC

    Rumpus in INEC over APC

    All is not well at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the organisation’s handling of the application for registration filed by the proxy APC (African Peoples Congress).

    Officials of the commission have been under severe pressure sparked by the public outrage that greeted what many Nigerians see as a ploy by some vested interests to frustrate the registration of the All Progressive Congress (APC), a fusion of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

    The commission has not made any public comment on how it will proceed with the proxy APC’s application, but behind the curtains, INEC officials are working desperately to relieve themselves of the mess caused by the controversial application.

    Two groups are believed to have emerged in INEC on the APC matter, each holding tenaciously to its position.

    One group wants the application filed by the proxy APC to be disregarded because it was not filed properly.

    The other group is in favour of its registration, hinging its argument on the fact that a letter of intent is sufficient to serve as an application.

    The battle of opinions in INEC continues and it is the main reason why the commission has been silent on the war of words between the All Progressive Congress and the African Peoples Congress over which of them should be registered.

    The group supporting the consideration of the controversial application is said to be led by a director of the commission from the South-South.

    The official is said to have agreed with the promoters of the proxy APC to smuggle in the application.

    Leaders of the ACN, CPC, and ANPP, promoters of the All Progressive Congress have vowed to forge ahead with their identity and accused the proxy APC of working for the ruling PDP to truncate the fusion of their parties.

    The proxy APC said, having been the first to file in a letter of intent to register with INEC, it should be registered with the acronym.

    It said no one can intimidate it into abandoning the identity.

    Sources attributed the silence of the commission on the matter to the difference in opinions amongst the leadership of the body.

    Said one source: “It has not been easy for the commission to take a position because the leading figure among those supporting the controversial application is one of those officially saddled with resolving the matter.

    “The chairman feels the application was not properly routed and as such should be ignored, but some top persons feel otherwise. There is need for them to come to agreement first.

    “The chairman is only following protocol given the fact that there are those saddled with looking into a matter like this. He has expressed his personal opinion and is only waiting for an official report from those currently looking into the matter.

    “It is only after he gets a report from them that an official position will be made public.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • ACN attacks PDP, INEC over APC

    ACN attacks PDP, INEC over APC

    •‘Electoral agency insincere’
    •‘INEC has only intent letter’

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday took on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) amid the battle to register the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The AC N accused INEC of “engaging in bare-faced lies and manipulation of fact by claiming that the platform African Peoples Congress has applied to the commission for registration”.

    The electoral agency confirmed the existence of a proposal for registration from the African Peoples Congress (APC).

    The ACN said yesterday in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that it had it “on good authority that a top official of INEC has boasted that the emergence of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) will be frustrated at all costs”.

    “Also, while the PDP has been quick to say it is not bothered by the coming together of the progressive forces, it has been having sleepless nights and working round the clock to devise measures to sabotage the merger.

    “The plan to set up the phantom African Peoples Congress to create an acronym war is just a tip of the iceberg. In the days ahead, Nigerians should watch out for more devilish plans by the PDP. But we are comforted by the fact that the forces of darkness have never prevailed over the forces of light”.

    An official of the Political Party Monitoring and Lianson Office, who is believed to be eyeing INEC secretary, is said to be working for the PDP in a “desperate bid” to scuttle APC’s registration.

    Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, also yesterday, urged INEC to register APC or have its image rubbished.

    Oshiomhole, who was elected on the platform of the AC N, one of the three major parties that merged to form the APC – the others being the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) – told reporters at the State House in Abuja that it is the right of political parties to merge.

    He said: “We have merged to form the All Progressives Congress; so, if people chose to trivialise it, it is up to them.

    “I know that INEC will register the APC because if they don’t, they will leave themselves open to accusation. Everybody knows this has been on the national discourse war at a period; it is not a new issue.

    “If people want to play these cheap games, first it shows that they are panicky and I don’t see any reason why people should be panic.

    “In a genuine democracy, it is in our interest, those in power and those out of power, to create viable alternative platform for people to make an informed choice. No party is too good to rule forever, nor is any party too bad to be out of power forever.

    “We have seen what is happening around the African continent. Nigeria must live by example in many respects. And if for some people, these are things to trivialise, it is not about me; it is not about you. A political party is not indigeneship; it is a platform of ideas. It is about Nigeria”, He said.

    The ACN said the INEC claim, as articulated by Mr. Kayode Idowu, the spokesman for INEC Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega, is not supported by the relevant sections of the Electoral Act regulating the registration of a political party.

    It said no party today with the acronym APC has applied to INEC to be registered, adding that even “the phantom African Peoples Congress – which is being sponsored by the PDP to lay claim to the acronym – has only written a letter of intent, which has not even been discussed by INEC, let alone the commission taking any decision on it.

    ‘’The statement credited to Mr. Idowu is therefore reckless and provocative and clearly betrays INEC as truly having merged with the PDP to frustrate the merger of the progressives under the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC). One wonders who the spokesman is speaking for and what interest he represents. He should therefore be called to order before he sets the country ablaze,’’ the ACN said.

    The party said in order to debunk INEC’s claim that the phantom African Peoples Congress has applied for registration, it is calling the attention of all the good people of Nigeria to the sections of the Electoral Act that are relevant to party registration:

    – Part V Political Parties of the Electoral Act, Section 78 (1) says: “A political association that complies with the provision of the Constitution and this Act for the purposes of registration shall be registered as a political party, provided that such application shall be duly submitted to the Commission not later than 6 months before a general election.”

    – Section 78 (2) which says: “The Commission shall on receipt of the documents in fulfilment of the conditions stipulated by the Constitution immediately issue the applicant with a letter of acknowledgement stating that all necessary documents have been submitted to the Commission”

    The ACN said: ‘’In this case, the applicants on behalf of the phantom African Peoples Congress, the clients of Legal World Chambers, have not submitted any of the documents stipulated by the Constitution to the Commission. They have only written a letter of intent and therefore INEC could not have issued them any letter of acknowledgment, let alone starting the process of verifying the documents

    ‘’At this point, they cannot even be regarded as applicants. Why then did INEC through its spokesperson gleefully go to the media to proclaim that another political association has applied to be registered as African Peoples Congress using the same acronym APC?.

    “Clearly INEC is on a mission of mischief and its paymaster is PDP which has been having sleepless nights since the merger arrangement was announced.’’

    The party also called attention to Section 78 (6) of the Electoral Act, which says: “An application for registration as a political party shall not be processed unless there is evidence of payment of administrative fee as may be fixed from time to time by the Commission”

    The ACN said it is aware that the applicants in question have not even paid any administrative fees and therefore INEC could not have commenced processing their application, because there is no application before INEC as they have only written a letter of intent.”

    To the ACN, the INEC spokesperson who announced that another political association has applied to be registered as APC is misleading Nigerians.

    “He should immediately be called to order before he sets the country ablaze,’’ the party said.

    It said what has emerged over the registration issue is that INEC is in cahoots with the PDP to stampede the merging parties to commit errors and also intimidate them to drop the acronym APC, adding however: ‘’This has failed because as of today in accordance with the provisions of S. 78 (2) and S. 78 (6) of the Electoral Act as explained above, there is no applicant on record for the acronym APC, contrary to the deceit being spread by the INEC spokesman.

    The ACN also alerted Nigerians to the fact that INEC has had a constructive knowledge of the merger plan and the existence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for a long time, going by statements credited to the INEC spokesman.

    On February 17th 2013, Mr. Idowu was quoted to have said, in a news story in The Punch of that date, that the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) remained a political association, even though it is yet to be recognised by the commission.

    “By law, we do not expect APC to come to INEC. The political parties that are fusing into another party will individually and respectively come back to INEC, notifying us that they are fusing into a party with a new identity,’’ the ACN quoted Mr. Idowu to have said told the newspaper.

    ‘’The same Idowu also told TVC news on February 8 that INEC was expecting the leadership of the All Progressives’ Congress to apply for formal documentation. With these statements, it is clear that INEC has always had a constructive knowledge of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) since the merger plan started, and that the emerging party did not have to do anything until all the component parties have held their conventions and ratified the constitution, manifesto and logo of the APC.

    ‘’We are therefore using this medium to assure the millions of our supporters within and outside Nigeria that there is no cause for alarm. The merger process is on course. The All Progressives’ Congress that is the legitimate people’s APC will berth safely and deliver Nigerians from the oppressive yoke of the PDP.

    ‘’We also wish to seize this opportunity to thank the thousands of concerned Nigerians who through text messages and emails have overwhelmed us with their advice and words of encouragement in the last two days.

    Your support have been invaluable to us and we shall not let you down,’’ the party said.

    The Lagos chapter of the ACN said Jega should quit having displayed partisanship.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary Joe Igbokwe, it said: “Lagos ACN therefore calls on Jega and his INEC leadership to resign or get sacked for falling so short of the impartial expectation of an INEC leadership. We urge Nigerians to step up the pressure to free INEC rotten leadership of Jega and the present INEC leadership. We must step up our demand that an independent and competent, non-partisan INEC leadership be empaneled by the NJC for the purpose of organising elections in Nigeria.

    “We must express our disapproval of an INEC leadership made up of card-carrying members of PDP, who are sworn to the protection and promotion of the PDP interests as the Jega leadership is presently committed to. We charge the members, supporters and sympathisers of Nigeria to be on their guards as the PDP/INEC plots fully unfold and be prepared to engage in mass actions necessary to secure an INEC that is not beholden to the guiles and antics of the PDP in its quest for limitless but irresponsible power.”

    The statement added: “We are shocked that the Jega-led INEC should indulge in such brazen, dirty and inordinate tricks as stealing in a fraudulent registration for a shadowy political party for the purpose of denying the APC its just registration.

    “We are peeved that such callous act is being perpetrated by the INEC leadership in contrivance with the PDP for the sole purpose of furthering the selfish, narrow and pristine interests of the PDP. This has sent an early warning signals that the Jega INEC is bent on once again, manipulating the coming election in favour of the PDP without regard to the feelings of the generality of long-suffering Nigerians.”

     

  • Proxy APC: INEC has only letter of intent, says official

    Proxy APC: INEC has only letter of intent, says official

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is not bound to register the emergency African Peoples Congress to spite the opposition parties from merging as All Progressives Congress (APC), it was learnt yesterday.

    Besides, said a source, INEC has so far received only a letter of intent from the emergency group.

    The letter of intent was reportedly submitted at the INEC office without any interaction with the commission’s officials.

    According to a source, the African Peoples Congress rushed to INEC last week with a letter of intent to be registered as a party.

    The source added: “The African Peoples Congress submitted only a mere letter of intent last week without requisite information. Legally, we are expected to look into the application within 30 days and, administratively, we ought to determine the fate of the group within 90 days.

    “So far, we have got the letter of intent without requisite information, like the list of representatives of the party, its board of trustees, the address of its headquarters in Abuja and the list of its offices in the 36 states of the Federation.

    “As I am talking to you, no one in INEC knows the promoters of the African Peoples Congress. They have not supplied any tangible information to show that they are serious.

    “We hope that the group will make these information available as soon as possible. Or else, the electoral commission might see the group as playing to the gallery.”

    Asked how the application was received, the source added: “A lawyer just walked in and submitted the letter of intent.

    “As a commission, we cannot shut our doors to any group seeking to register as a political party.”

    The source clarified that by virtue of Section 222 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 78 of the Electoral Act, INEC is not bound to register the emergency African Peoples Congress.

    “Although we are to entertain applications for registration of parties on the basis of first come, first served, we are not bound to register All Peoples Congress, except all conditions are met as contained in Section 78 of the Electoral Act.

    The section reads: “A political association that complies with the provision of the constitution and this Act for the purposes of registration shall be registered as a political party, provided that such application for registration as a political party shall be duly submitted to the Commission not later than six months before a general election.

    “The Commission shall, on receipt of the documents in fulfillment of the conditions stipulated by the Constitution, immediately issue the applicant with a letter of acknowledgement stating that all the necessary documents have been submitted to the Commission.

    “If the association has not fulfilled all the conditions under the section, the Commission shall within 30 days from the receipt of its application notify the association in writing, stating the reasons for non-registration.

    “A political association that meets the conditions stipulated in the constitution and this Act shall be registered by the Commission as a political party within 30 days from the date of receipt of the application, and if after the 30 days such association is not registered by the Commission unless the Commission informs the association to the contrary, it shall be deemed to have been registered.

    “An association which, through the submission of false or misleading information pursuant to the provisions of this section, procures a certificate of registration, shall have such certificate cancelled.

    “An application for registration as a political party shall not be processed, unless there is evidence of payment of administrative fee as may be fixed from time to time by the Commission.

    “The Commission shall have power to deregister political parties on the following grounds; breach of any of the requirement for registration and for failure to win a seat in the National or State Assembly election.”