The African Democratic Congress (ADC), National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, has labelled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a criminal organisation.
NOP NIGERIA reports that Abdullahi’s remarks follow INEC’s decision to remove the names of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as National Chairman and National Secretary of the ADC from its official portal.
The commission also said it would not recognise Nafiu Bala, who is seeking to be declared national chairman through the courts, and announced the suspension of recognition of all factions within the party pending the determination of a substantive suit before the Federal High Court.
Reacting to the development, Abdullahi, while speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Thursday, accused INEC of acting in violation of the law and taking sides in the party’s ongoing leadership dispute.
Abdullahi argued that the former party official, Nafiu Bala Gombe, no longer had the legal standing to act on behalf of the party, insisting that his tenure had ended following his resignation and the dissolution of the executive committee to which he belonged.
He maintained that the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), as the next highest organ after the convention, had already taken decisions binding on the party’s leadership structure.
Abdullahi further accused INEC of contempt of court and behaving like a criminal organisation.
He said, “As at July 17, he was no longer an official of the party, and INEC knew this. So as I was saying, he has no locus.
“It is a settled matter in court that the issue of leadership is wholly and internal affairs of the political parties and the NEC is the next most senior organ of the party, next to the convention.
“The NEC said that the executive that he belonged, even if he said he did not resign, the executive that he belong has been duly dissolved.
“So on what basis is INEC recognizing Bala’s action? Because INEC knew since August 12 that they received a notice of his resignation that he is no longer an official of the party.
“So what basis he being recognized? So recognizing Nafiu Bala’s action means that INEC is taking a side.
“What INEC has done effectively is to violate the directive of the appeal court, and that is criminal.
“If you are talking about contempt, that is what INEC has done. INEC, today, is behaving like a criminal organization. And Amupitan is a chief criminal because what the Court of Appeal said is maintained status quo.”
