AD Says No To INEC's Plan To Merge It With ACN

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 09, (THEWILL) - The Alliance for Democracy (AD) has warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to merge the party with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for the 2011 general election.

The AD in statement from its Acting National Chairman, Rev Okechukwu C. Obioha called on the Executive, Judiciary, Legislature and major stakeholders to intervene and warned that the plan could impact negatively on democracy if the AD is barred from fielding candidates in the elections.

While explaining the genesis of the alleged merger with the ACN, the acting Chairman traced the problem to its last National Convention of September 23, 2010, where a motion was moved to merge the AD and ACN by some former executives of the party. He said the move failed as members overwhelmingly rejected it.

The statement named National Chairman, Chief Michael Koleosho; Deputy National Chairman, Alhaji Musa Umar; National Secretary Administration, Alh Magaji Kwaranga and South/West Zonal Chairman, Rev Tunji Adebiyi as those who moved the motion.

The acting Chairman said rather than yield to the merger plan, members of the NEC present met and appointed the National Vice Chairman S/East as the Acting National Chairman pending when the next convention is held to elect a substantive National Chairman.

Obioha said the party communicated the resolution to INEC in a letter dated September 27, 2010, but that to its surprise, those behind the initial merger plot wrote another letter to INEC on October 05, 2010, informing the commission of a merger/fusion and also requested that the AD logo be deleted from the general elections ballot paper.

"Our candidates have become jittery since December 2010 and are now frustrated. They do not want to see AD contest election because they have concluded that it will weaken the chances of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) greatly," Obioha said in the statement.

Obioha said the AD has been unable to collect INEC forms CF001 and CF002 for its candidates since December 15, 2010 till date.

"We call on the Executive, Judiciary, Legislature and major stake holders in our polity to intervene and cause INEC, especially Regina Omo-Agege to release these forms forthwith," he added.

It called on government to remove INEC’s Regina Omo-Agege from her position before she causes ‘serious damage to our polity and democratic experimentation.’