By Luminous Jannamike
ABUJA — The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has accused a group led by Nafiu Bala Gombe of using forged documents purportedly issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to falsely claim it uploaded the names of a presidential candidate and other nominees to the Commission’s nomination portal.
The party has asked INEC to investigate what it described as the forgery and unauthorised use of the documents, saying the development was capable of creating confusion and undermining public confidence in the electoral body.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC dismissed the reported upload as false and insisted that only the leadership recognised by INEC has access to the Commission’s nomination portal.
“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,” Abdullahi said.
The party said the claim did not stand up to scrutiny, arguing that INEC neither grants access to its nomination portal nor issues nomination codes to any leadership it does not recognise.
“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,” ADC said.
It also challenged those behind the claim to produce proof.
“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?”
The ADC described the report as another attempt to create confusion.
“Even as ridiculous as this claim appears, it is nothing more than another scheme to create doubts and confusion in the minds of unsuspecting members of the public,” Abdullahu said.
Maintaining that there is no leadership dispute within the party, the ADC said the leadership recognised by INEC had concluded its nomination process in line with the Electoral Act and the Commission’s guidelines.
The party also reaffirmed that the names of its presidential and vice-presidential candidates had already been submitted to the electoral commission.
“As we informed the public last week, the details of our Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (GCON), and our Vice-Presidential Candidate, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi (CON), have been uploaded on the INEC portal. Those are the facts,” Abdullahi said.
Looking ahead to the 2027 general election, the ADC said it expected more attempts to distract the party but insisted it would remain focused on offering Nigerians what it described as a credible alternative.
“As the election approaches, there will be repeated attempts to distract the party and mislead the public. We will not be distracted. Our focus remains firmly on presenting Nigerians with a credible alternative that can restore security, tackle the rising cost of living, revive the economy, create jobs, and return the country to the path of progress in 2027,” Abdullahi said.
The party urged its members, supporters, the media and the general public to ignore what it described as ‘agents of distraction’ and rely only on official communications issued through its authorised channels.
