In 2019, the court voided the victory of all APC candidates in states and federal elections in Zamfara state over the leadership tussle among factions of the party in the state at the time. Subsequently, the court declared candidates of opposition parties who came second as the winners of the election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned the African Democratic Congress, ADC, against proceeding with its scheduled States’ congresses and national convention amid the leadership imbroglio in which the party is currently embroiled.
The commission noted that doing so while there is no conclusive adjudication or determination of the suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja by one of the former national deputy chairmen of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe, who is seeking to be declared as the national chairman of the party, will have grave consequences for the party.
The Chairman of the commission, Prof Joash Amupitan, issued the warning on Friday during an interview on Arise News, stating that the party must obey the law by going back to the status quo as ordered by the court.
He warned that the party may suffer the same fate that befell the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara some years back, if David Mark and other members of his party do not resolve the dispute bedevilling the party.
In 2019, the court voided the victory of all APC candidates in states and federal elections in Zamfara state over the leadership tussle among factions of the party in the state at the time. Subsequently, the court declared candidates of opposition parties who came second as the winners of the elections.
The development would see Bello Matawalle, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 Zamfara governorship election, emerge as the governor of the state. He would later defect to the APC in the build-up to the 2023 general elections but lost his re-election bid to the candidate of the PDP, Dauda Lawal. Matawalle was appointed minister of state for defence by President Bola Tinubu and Dauda too has since defected to the APC.
Recall that the national chairman, David Mark, had at a press conference on Thursday, vowed that the party will hold its planned congresses and national convention even without INEC.
But Amupitan warned, “If they decide to go ahead, let me tell you what happened in Zamfara: it happened in the past.”
“At the end of the day, after you have won, the court will declare the election invalid and the implication is that the person with the second-highest number of votes will be declared the winner. It’s happened in Plateau State.
“Failure to obey the court order has consequences. They have liability to do whatever they want to do, but INEC doesn’t want to face a situation again where there is an order not to do anything or take any steps.
“I have the judgment here, and I can read it to you, it is very definite.”
