The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) 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 party said the INEC claim, as
articulated by Mr. Kayode Idowu, the spokesman for INEC Chairman, is
not supported by the relevant sections of the Electoral Act
regulating the registration of a political party.
It 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 is being sponsored by the PDP
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 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 (APC). 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,” ACN said.
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 6 months
before a general election.”
– Section 78 (2) which says: “The Commission shall on receipt of the
documents in fulfilment 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”
ACN said: ”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”
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 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 party said.
It 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.
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 (APC) for a long time, going by statements credited to the
INEC spokesman both in the print and the electronic media.
On Feb. 17th 2013, Mr. Idowu was quoted to have said, in a news story
in the Punch of that date, that the All Progressives’ Congress (APC)
remained a political association, even though it is yet to be
recognized by the commission.
“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,” ACN quoted Mr. Idowu to have said told the paper.
”The same Idowu also told TVC news on Feb. 8th 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
(APC) 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,” the party said.
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,” ACN said.
