The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday denied accusations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that the commission has been frustrating its quest for formal registration.
According to INEC spokesman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, APC’s allegations against the commission are “baseless and false,” as INEC has been in constant touch with APC in the form of correspondences and visits to the offices they indicated as their address.
But an APC source claimed that the party had already satisfied all requirements of the law on the merger but INEC was only bent on playing games to stop it, because some INEC staff are card-carrying members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“Section 4 of the Electoral Act states that ‘On receipt of the request for merger of the political parties, the Commission shall consider the request and if the parties have fulfilled the requirements of the Commission and this Act, approve the proposed merger and communicate its decision to the parties concerned before the expiration of 30 days from the date of the receipt of the formal request, provided that if the Commission fails to communicate its decision within 30 days, the merger shall be deemed to be effective,” the APC man said, adding that since the formal request for merger was submitted on 12th June 2013, the party ought to have been registered by now.
However, Idowu wondered if it was proper to consider the date of APC’s application as the date it wrote INEC for recognition in merger or the date it supplied INEC with the necessary documents?
“I am sure the proper date is the one they submitted the required documents and with such date in mind, the 30 days stipulated by the Electoral Act has not expired,” Idowu enthused.
“We learnt that INEC is planning to write to us [APC] by Monday and their trick for not registering us is to ask us to seek a new name as there is a court case over the acronym,” another source said. “But INEC cannot pre-empt what the court would want to do. It is intriguing.”
