INEC LIED ON AFRICAN PEOPLES CONGRESS' APPLICATION -ACN

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of engaging in barefaced 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 yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the relevant sections of the Electoral Act, regulating the registration of a political party, as articulated by Mr. Kayode Idowu, the spokesman for INEC Chairman, do not support the INEC claim. It said the truth of the matter was that no party today with the acronym APC has applied to INEC to be registered, adding that even, the phantom African Peoples Congress, which was being sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to lay claim to the acronym, had only written a letter of intent, which had 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 portrayed 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 to debunk INEC's claim that the phantom African Peoples Congress had applied for registration, it was 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'

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 was aware that the applicants in question had not even paid any administrative fees and therefore INEC could not have commenced processing their application, because there was no application before INEC as they had only written a letter of intent. It said what has emerged over the registration issue was that INEC was 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 was 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 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.'