The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has escalated its dispute with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) concerning the nomination of ten candidates for various State House of Assembly constituencies in Anambra State.
The party has rejected INEC’s recent explanations regarding the appearance of these candidates on its portal. The NDC contends that INEC improperly included the names of ten individuals, claiming they were not authorized candidates of the party.
INEC, in its defense, stated that the names were derived from EC9E forms that had been duly submitted and signed by the NDC’s national chairman and national secretary. The commission emphasized that it holds no legal authority to select or modify candidates on behalf of any political party, asserting that the nomination process and submission responsibility lies solely with the parties.
In a response issued by spokesperson Agada Theophilus, the NDC challenged INEC to clarify how it procured the EC9E forms for the ten candidates if, as claimed, the party did not submit them. The NDC maintains that it provided a list of candidates based on an internal appeal process, but those names were reportedly rejected by INEC.
The commission affirmed possession of an EC9E form containing the candidates’ names, validated by signatures from the NDC leadership. Nonetheless, the NDC questions the legitimacy of this form, stating that they neither collected nor submitted any forms related to the disputed candidates.
Consequently, the NDC has called for an electronic audit of INEC’s nomination portal to ascertain how these candidates were entered into the system. The party’s national chairman alleged that the names published by INEC were unfamiliar and indicated that the party had actually submitted the approved candidates through the appropriate channels. He pointed out discrepancies where some of the party’s approved candidates remained in “pending” status.
Frustrated by the situation, the NDC has requested an investigation and hinted at possible legal actions to contest the inclusion of what they refer to as “imposters” on the candidates’ list. Conversely, INEC has reiterated that the names released were based on the submissions made through the official nomination procedures. The commission has described the process as strictly governed by law, stating that it exclusively relies on the documentation provided by the party chairpersons.
