INEC, All Progressives Congress meet over APC

INEC and members of the All Progressives Congress will meet on Friday at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.

Apparently worried about the controversy generated by the claim to a common acronym by three new political associations, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has invited the Merger Committee of All Progressives Congress to a crucial meeting on Friday, to discuss the issue.

The meeting will hold at INEC Headquarters in Abuja.

The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN; Congress for Progressive Change, CPC; All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP; and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; had in February this year, agreed to merge into the All Progressives Congress, and adopted “APC” as its acronym.

However, a few weeks later, two associations – African Peoples Congress and All Patriotic Citizens – applied to INEC for registration, adopting the same acronym, a development interpreted to be a move to thwart the successful coalition of the opposition parties, ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Earlier this month, the Merger Committee had broken into three subcommittees, namely Logo and Manifesto; Legal and Constitutional Compliance; and Constitution, with a view to preparing the documents that will accompany the application for registration.

A source in the All Progressives Congress told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday that the Commission wrote to all members of the Merger Committee, inviting them for a discussion.

The National Publicity Secretary of ACN, Lai Mohammed, confirmed that the meeting between the Commission and the major partners in the merger would hold. The timing for the meeting is yet to be resolved by both parties at the time this report was filed.

Although, the other issues on the agenda could not be confirmed as Mr. Mohammed refused to disclose them, it was gathered that the parley may also centre on INEC’s determination to tighten the regulation of political parties, especially in the area of registration. There might also be discussions on last Saturday’s Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

The issue of guidelines for party regulation was at the top of the agenda of the meeting between the Commission and registered political parties in the country last Tuesday.

When contacted, Kayode Idowu, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, refused to comment on Friday’s planned meeting.

The Director of the Public Affairs of the Commission, Emmanuel Umenger, could also not be reached as his mobile telephone was switched off.