2023: INEC Makes Final Decision On Lawan, Akpabio Case After APC Fails To Upload Candidates For 25 NASS Seats

By Adeleye Kunle

The All Progressives Congress, APC, may not field candidates for 25 National Assembly, NASS, seats due to its inability to resolve several internal crises among its members, TrackNews reports.

APC was said to have been unable to upload some of its candidates by the end of the deadline for NASS seat submissions on June 17.

The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, and the immediate past Minister of Niger Delta, Sen Godswill Akpabion, both hail from the Yobe North and Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial Districts.

A party source, who is upset about the development, lamented that APC leaders are nowhere to be found at such a critical time.

“Our National Chairman is out of the country,” he explained. Some claim he visited China, while others claim he visited Germany. Our National Secretary is understandably preoccupied with the governorship election in his home state of Osun. Some members of the National Working Committee, NWC, are also absent from Abuja or the country.

“The situation is such that even party headquarters staff salaries were only recently paid.”

“As of now, we don’t have candidates for the 25 National Assembly seats because we didn’t upload any.”

According to a report in the Sunday Vanguard, the APC has been attempting to use back channels to persuade the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to do its bidding by allowing it to upload candidates for the affected seats.

However, it was reported that INEC insisted on not bending the rules for the ruling party.

The online submission of nomination forms EC9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, and 9E for presidential and national assembly elections began on June 10 and ended on June 17.

Furthermore, the deadlines for submitting nomination forms for state elections – governorship and state assembly – are July 1 and July 15.

Felix Morka, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, declined to comment when contacted.

However, Festus Okoye, the INEC National Commissioner in charge of the Information and Voter Education Committee, told Sunday Vanguard that “some political parties uploaded half the number (of candidates) depending on their relative strength and electoral preferences.”

Okoye was vague about the APC.

“We have 109 Senatorial seats and 360 House of Representatives seats,” he explained. We have nominations for president and vice president. Normally, each registered political party is required to upload the personal information of 471 candidates.

“Depending on their relative strength and electoral preferences, some political parties uploaded half the number.” Personal information about the validly nominated candidates has been made public in the various constituencies.

“No law requires political parties to nominate 471 candidates.” “I can confirm that the majority of political parties did not meet the 471 threshold.”

Meanwhile, INEC has stated that its decision not to publish candidates for the Yobe North Senatorial District and Akwa Ibom Northwest Senatorial District is irreversible and cannot be reversed.

INEC has now become “functus officio” in the matter, advising aggrieved political parties to seek redress through the Federal High Court.

Specifically, the APC has made numerous allegations concerning its primary elections in the two districts.

The party accused Mike Igini, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State, of working against its interests.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North) and Senator Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom Northwest) did not participate in the senatorial primary elections monitored by INEC because they were focused on their party’s presidential convention, in which they were both contestants.

The APC convention took place just days after the party completed its senatorial primary elections on time.

While Bashir Machina was elected in Yobe North, retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Udom Ekpoudum, was elected in Akwa Ibom Northwest.

The APC refused to enter their information into INEC’s candidate nomination portal, instead informing the commission that Lawan and Akpabio had won their tickets in both constituencies.

Okoye said in a statement issued Saturday in Abuja that allegations aimed at undermining the Commission’s integrity had been made in relation to the Akwa Ibom North West and Yobe North Senatorial Districts.

To clear the air, Okoye stated that the Commission is mandated by the Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution to monitor the organization and operation of political parties, including their finances, conventions, congresses, and party primaries.

“In accordance with its constitutional and legal obligations, the Commission dispatched monitors to the various constituencies and received reports on their activities.”

“In relation to the Akwa Ibom North West and Yobe North Senatorial District primaries, the Commission supports the monitoring reports received from our State offices.”

“As a result, the Commission did not publish the personal particulars of any candidate for the two constituencies that differed from state reports,” he explained.