Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, of allegedly attempting to weaken opposition parties by fuelling internal crises, citing the commission’s handling of the leadership dispute in the African Democratic Congress.
Atiku made the allegation in a statement issued on Monday by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, and signed by the Atiku Media Office.
He claimed that INEC’s alleged decision to grant the party’s portal access code to Nafiu Gombe, who claims to be the ADC National Chairman, despite the commission’s recognition of the Senator David Mark-led leadership, could create fresh divisions within the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The former vice president was reacting to a statement by Gombe, who announced that he had successfully uploaded the names of the party’s candidates to INEC’s portal.
According to Atiku, the uploading of candidates’ names is part of the preparations for the 2027 elections and can only be carried out through access codes issued by INEC to recognised political parties.
He said, “By granting access code to Bala Gombe, a pretender, despite the fact that INEC has recognised the Senator David Mark-led executive, the electoral umpire is once again manifesting partisanship.
“What INEC has done is a recipe for crisis and confirms that Prof. Joash Amupitan was appointed to weaken opposition parties by creating crises where none exists.”
Atiku argued that the commission could not lawfully recognise two national chairmen of the same political party or issue separate access codes for parallel leaderships.
Citing Sections 222 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and 84 of the Electoral Act 2022, he maintained that only candidates produced through recognised party primaries and submitted by the duly recognised party leadership are valid.
He insisted that only candidates submitted by the David Mark-led executive could be recognised, describing any parallel submission as unconstitutional and void.
The former vice president urged INEC to avoid actions capable of destabilising opposition parties, alleging that such actions would aid President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“As of the time of filing this report, INEC had yet to respond to the allegations.”
