The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has described as ‘blatant lies’ claims that the Nafiu Bala Gombe-faction has uploaded the names of a presidential candidate and other nominees to the nomination portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

In a statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said INEC does not issue nomination portal access or nomination codes to a leadership it does not recognise, adding that the Commission will not issue two codes to the same party.

Abdullahi challenged Nafiu-Gombe to provide the evidence of the purported upload, expressing optimism that the Commission will investigate the matter and take the necessary steps to correct the ‘blatant misrepresentation’.

“The African Democratic Congress, ADC, wishes to draw the attention of the media and the general public to false reports claiming that a group led by Mr. Nafiu Bala Gombe has uploaded the names of a presidential candidate and other nominees to the INEC nomination portal. The claim is a blatant lie. And it is quite easy to verify why.

“INEC does not issue nomination portal access or nomination codes to a leadership it does not recognise. Secondly, the Commission will not issue two codes to the same party.

“Otherwise, every impostor would simply upload names to the portal and proclaim themselves the authentic leadership of a political party. That is plainly not how the law or the Commission’s processes work.

“The question, therefore, is straightforward: where is the evidence of this purported upload by a group of individuals not known by law or the electoral body?

“We are also, by this statement, formally drawing the attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to what appears to be the forgery and unauthorised use of documents purportedly emanating from the Commission in a manner capable of creating confusion and undermining public confidence in its integrity and reputation as Nigeria’s electoral umpire,” the ADC statement said.