The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclaimed Nafiu Bala’s claim that he uploaded the particulars of Chris Uba as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate.
INEC Spokesperson, Mohammed Haruna, told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday that Mr Bala couldn’t have uploaded any candidate as the commission only provided login details to the David Mark faction, the only recognised leadership of the party.
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Mr Bala took to his Facebook Page to announce that his faction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has uploaded the particulars of Chris Uba, a professor, and Shamsuddin Barkindo as the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Mr Bala posted a document on INEC letterhead bearing the INEC logo, along with some screenshots purportedly from the INEC portal.
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But the recognised ADC faction has described the claim “as a blatant lie”.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, the party asked Nigerians not to be fooled by Mr Bala’s antics.
“Where is the evidence of this purported upload by a group of individuals not known by law or the electoral body?” the party asked.
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INEC speaks
Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES via telephone on Monday, Mr Haruna said he has spoken to all directors at the commission, and no one is aware of Mr Bala’s claim.
The INEC spokesperson said the commission only provided login details to Mr Mark’s faction.
He also confirmed that the candidates presented by the ADC are Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate and Rotimi Amaechi as the vice president.
ADC’s previous saga
Last year, Mr Bala, a former vice chairman of the ADC, instituted a lawsuit challenging Mr Mark’s leadership of the party, insisting he ought to be the party’s national chairman after the former occupant of the office, Ralph Nwosu, resigned.
The case led to a brief suspension of the party’s recognition by INEC.
Meanwhile, the party expelled Mr Bala during the party’s convention earlier this year.
Following the recognition of Mr Mark as the national chairman, the party recently uploaded recently uploaded the names of Atiku Abubakar and Rotimi Amaechi as its presidential and vice presidential candidates.
Read ADC’s full statement
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. And it is quite easy to verify why.
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.
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.
The question, therefore, is straightforward: where is the evidence of this purported upload by a group of individuals not known by law or the electoral body?
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.
We trust that the Commission will investigate this matter and take the necessary steps to correct this blatant misrepresentation.
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