The Action Congress of Nigeria has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of engaging in bare-faced lies and manipulation of facts by claiming that the phantom African Peoples Congress has applied to the commission for registration.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the ACN said the INEC claim, as articulated by Kayode Idowu, the spokesman for the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, is not supported by the relevant sections of the Electoral Act regulating the registration of a political party.
The party said the truth of the matter is that no party today with the acronym APC has applied to INEC to be registered, adding that even the phantom African Peoples Congress, which it alleged is being sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party to lay claim to the acronym, has only written a letter of intent, which has not even been discussed by INEC, not to talk of the commission taking any decision on it.
The statement said: “The statement credited to Mr. Idowu is therefore reckless and provocative and clearly betrays INEC as truly having merged with the PDP to frustrate the merger of the progressives under the banner of the All Progressives’ Congress. One wonders who the spokesman is speaking for and what interest he represents. He should therefore be called to order before he sets the country ablaze.”
The party said in order to debunk INEC’s claim that the phantom African Peoples Congress has applied for registration, it is calling the attention of all the good people of Nigeria to the sections of the Electoral Act that are relevant to party registration: Part V Political Parties of the Electoral Act, Section 78 (1) says: “A political association that complies with the provision of the Constitution and this Act for the purposes of registration shall be registered as a political party, provided that such application shall be duly submitted to the Commission not later than six months before a general election.
“Section 78 (2) which says: “The Commission shall on receipt of the documents in fulfillment of the conditions stipulated by the Constitution immediately issue the applicant with a letter of acknowledgement stating that all necessary documents have been submitted to the Commission.”
Mohammed added in the statement by the ACN: “In this case the applicants on behalf of the phantom African Peoples Congress, the clients of Legal World Chambers, have not submitted any of the documents stipulated by the Constitution to the Commission. They have only written a letter of intent and therefore
INEC could not have issued them any letter of acknowledgment, not to talk of starting the process of verifying the documents
“At this point they cannot even be regarded as applicants. Why then did INEC through its spokesperson gleefully go to the media to proclaim that another political association has applied to be registered as African Peoples Congress using the same acronym APC? Clearly INEC is on a mission of mischief and its paymaster is PDP who has been having sleepless nights since the merger arrangement was announced.”
The party further called attention to Section 78 (6) of the Electoral Act, which says: “An application for registration as a political party shall not be processed unless there is evidence of payment of administrative fee as may be fixed from time to time by the Commission.”
The ACN said it is aware that the applicants in question have not even paid any administrative fees and therefore INEC could not have commenced processing their application, because there is no application before INEC as they have only written a letter of intent.
The statement added: “The INEC spokesperson who announced to the world that another political association has applied to be registered as APC is therefore
definitely being paid by the PDP to mislead Nigerians, subvert extant regulations and scuttle the proposed merger of the ACN, ANPP, APGA and CPC. He should immediately be called to order before he sets the country ablaze.”
The ACN said what has emerged over the registration issue is that INEC is in cahoots with the PDP to stampede the merging parties to commit errors and also intimidate them to drop the acronym APC, adding, however: “This has failed because as of today in accordance with the provisions of S. 78 (2) and S. 78 (6) of the Electoral Act as explained above, there is no applicant on record for the acronym APC, contrary to the deceit being spread by the INEC spokesman.”
The ACN also alerted Nigerians to the fact that INEC has had a constructive knowledge of the merger plan and the existence of the All Progressives Congress for a long time, going by statements credited to the INEC spokesman both in the print and the electronic media.
On February 17, 2013, Idowu was quoted to have said in a news story in The Punch that the All Progressives’ Congress remained a political association, though it is yet to be recognized by the commission.
Idowu was quoted to have said: “By law, we do not expect APC to come to INEC. The political parties that are fusing into another party will individually and respectively come back to INEC, notifying us that they are fusing into a party with a new identity.”
Mohammed added: “The same Idowu also told TVC news on February 8, 2013 that INEC was expecting the leadership of the All Progressives’ Congress to apply for formal documentation. With these statements, it is clear that INEC has always had a constructive knowledge of the All Progressives’ Congress since the merger plan started, and that the emerging party did not have to do anything until all the component parties have held their conventions and ratified the constitution, manifesto and logo of the APC.
“We are therefore using this medium to assure the millions of our supporters within and outside Nigeria that there is no cause for alarm. The merger process is on course. The All Progressives’ Congress that is the legitimate people’s APC will berth safely and deliver Nigerians from the oppressive yoke of the PDP.
“We also wish to seize this opportunity to thank the thousands of concerned Nigerians who through text messages and emails have overwhelmed us with their advice and words of encouragement in the last two days. Your support have been invaluable to us and we shall not let you down.”
It however called for vigilance on the part of all progressive forces across the country, “especially because we have it on good authority that a top official of INEC has boasted that the emergence of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) will be frustrated at all costs.
“Also, while the PDP has been quick to say it is not bothered by the coming together of the progressive forces, it has been having sleepless nights and working round the clock to device measures to sabotage the merger. The plan to set up the phantom African Peoples Congress to create an acronym war is just a tip of the iceberg. In the days ahead, Nigerians should watch out for more devilish plans by the PDP. But we are comforted by the fact that the forces of darkness have never prevailed over the forces of light.”
