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INEC and new parties: Go to court, APC tells Atiku’s coalition *Absolves Tinubu
Just like Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and others who complained about being rigged out of the 2023 presidential election, in which the stood against Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressive Congress (APC), has yet again delivered the same message to them – go to court.
The ruling party sang the simple song to the complaints by the coalition of being denied registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which they said is sitting on scores of applications by Nigerians to register new political parties.
Incidentally, all the efforts of the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), to upturn the result of the election as announced by INEC, through the courts came to naught as their claims of rigging the process were wantonly thrown out.
Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation and member of the coalition, had alerted of the attitude of INEC in rebuffing attempts at new party registrations, when he appeared on Tuesday as a guest of Prime Time, a public affairs programme on ARISE NEWS, television network.
Berating Mahmoud Yakubu, Chairman of the commission, whom he said was worse that Maurice Iwu, his last but one predecessor, accused of supervising some of the most flawed elections in Nigeria, Amaechi, had told his host that unlike Attahiru Jega who took over from the former INEC boss, who conducted the 2003 and 2007 elections, the current boss was becoming a democratic disaster by taking the country back to the old days.
Hear him: “The current Chairman of INEC can only be compared to Iwu. When we were to register APC, Jega opened the door and we complied with the registration requirements. He got APC registered.
“The current man, if you comply with all these, he would not register you. Already INEC is biased. So, the only thing I can tell you now is that looking at the way Nigeria has run the election, even the option A4 led us forward. At least a lot of transparency.
“You were sure of what was going on. Then we came back to meet people like Iwu and others and the current one and things got worse. So, you don’t know whether to say we are progressing or we are regressing… there’s a state capture using the electoral institution as a machine.
“Jega was a man of conscience. Yakubu has already made it clear he would not register new political parties. Already he (Yakubu) is stopping parties from being registered. Already, INEC has taken sides. INEC is no longer the impartial umpire.”
But Felix Morka, spokesman of the APC, in a quick riposte, on Wednesday, wondered why the former Governor of Rivers State, would resort to crying alone instead of taking steps to remedy the situation, since INEC was a distinct institution, whose activities were actionable.
A guest of The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS, Morka, exonerated Tinubu from the ugly narrative, insisting that he had no hand in such anti-democratic moves, which he described in the first place as “idle speculations.”
His words: “INEC is an institution created by law. It has a clear mandate either to regulate political parties or to manage electoral process. We cannot second-guess that. INEC will deal with applications for registration of political parties based on legal criteria. It is not a political process. INEC is a statutory authority, meaning that INEC is a compellable agency.
“If there is anyone who has attempted to register a political party, who has been unfairly denied that facility to register, and he believes that INEC has ignored clear legal standards which they have met to register their party – look, I’m a lawyer, a senior lawyer for that matter – if I were in that position, I will take out a writ of mandamus to compel INEC to do its job.
“It’s not enough for people to just bandy allegations around. It’s like somebody who has not met the standards, has not met the requirements to register a political party and comes to the national television to put out a statement and say, we’re being denied. Nobody is being denied.
“If you assert, you must prove. If you think INEC is denying you unfairly, or that INEC is pandering to some executive or whatever instruction or manipulation, you must show evidence of that, and it’s not that hard to show evidence of such a thing. So, it’s not enough to come to Nigerians and say we’re being denied when you’ve not met even the simple threshold requirement that qualifies you to be registered.
“You think INEC will register you because INEC wants to pander to some sentiments or emotions. That’s not how it works. It doesn’t work like that in Nigeria, and it doesn’t work like that anywhere else. So, I think that those who are making that suggestion should go back and figure what they’re doing.
“If they think they have met the standard as I said, they need to take on INEC. They should go to court and compel INEC to do its job. INEC has a statutory, enforceable duties they should perform. So, I don’t buy that. I don’t buy that at all.”
Flaunting Tinubu’s performance in the last two years, he said: “This President has done more than all the presidents before him. His direction of ordering our priorities, tackling some of the most acerbic challenges faced by the economy of our country, he has decided that he’s not about looking for cheap popularity, but doing those things that may momentarily seem unpopular but are decidedly crucial to a long term good health of our country’s economy.
“All of the hues and cries by members of the oppositions whether its Rotimi Amaechi or former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, or former Kaduna Governor, Malam El-Rufai don’t cut it. The President is focused on matters that guarantee the long term health of our country.”
“What is funny is that all of these voices put together don’t even begin to speak to what they think this President should be doing different from what he’s doing. Not one of them has come with any kind of informed prescription of what the President should be doing.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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