Inec and APC on course for a bitter clash as commission says it has missed deadline in Zamfara and has no candidates

NIGERIA's ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is set for a head-on clash with the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) after the body told the party that it will not be allowed to field candidates in Zamfara State having missed the deadline.

In February next year, Nigeria goes to the polls and under Inec's timetable, political parties had until October 7 to conclude their primary elections. Then, the last day for the submission of lists of sponsored candidates is October 18 for the presidential and national assembly elections and November 2 for governorship and state houses of assembly polls.

Due to endless infighting within the Zamfara chapter of the APC, the party has been unable to hold primary elections as several attempt to elect candidates have ended in rancour, with one even resulting in delegates exchanging blows. According to Inec, this means that the party will not be able to feature candidates in any election in the state, apart from the presidency where it has adopted President Muhammadu Buhari as its flagbearer.

In a letter written to the APC national chairman Adams Oshiomhole signed by Inec's acting secretary Okechukwu Ndeche, the commission explained that  its decision was hinged on the fact that the October 7deadline had lapsed. Inec noted that its stance to declare APC ineligible to field candidates was premised  on the provisions of sections 87 and 31 of the Electoral Act 2010.

However, in his reply to Inec, Mr Oshiomhole faulted the electoral commission, saying that the grounds upon which Inec based its conclusion was faulty and as such could not be relied upon. He said the party held primary elections for the said positions and that the APC electoral committee sent to the state to conduct the exercise had submitted a comprehensive report.

Mr Oshiomhole said: “The summary of the report, as you will find, is that following the high level of friction, disagreements and threatened violence by various political camps before the primaries, all the aspirants met at City King Hotel, Gusau, to find a truce. After hours of intense horse-trading, a consensus was reached within the spirit and context of the Electoral Act and the constitution of our party on the basis of which a list was produced which was confirmed/affirmed by all delegates present.

"This was done in strict compliance with Section 87 (6) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as Amended). Therefore, the claim in your letter under reference that no primaries were conducted by your party in the state, notwithstanding that our officials were fully mobilised and deployed could only be referring to their observation that actual voting did not take place, which is not the only mode prescribed for producing candidates in the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended).”

He added that he was perplexed that Inec did not wait for the APC to submit the names of its candidates in Zamfara State, considering that the time within which such submission should take place has not lapsed. According to Mr Oshiomhole, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not also hold primaries in Kano but no such letter was written to the party in relation to Kano State.

In what is probably the most rancorous case in the country,. the Zamfara State chapter of the  APC has been engulfed in a serious crisis lately, as two opposing camps led by Governor Abdulaziz Yari, who is also a senatorial aspirant and Senator Kabiru Marafa, a governorship aspirant, have fought each other relentlessly. Governor Yari wants his finance commissioner Mukhtar Idris, to succeed him but Senator Marafa insisted that there must be a level playing field.

 This led to the conducting of parallel primaries across the state which produced different candidates and the APC's national working committee subsequently suspended the state executive of the party to allow for a rancour-free exercise. This decision which did not go down well with Governor Yari and to compound matters further, the electoral panel sent to the state by the party’s national leadership said it was unable to organise primaries.

To make matters worse for the APC, the PDP and civil rights groups have supported Inec on its stand on the Zamfara State, asking the commission not to allow the  ruling party to intimidate it over its position. PDP publicity secretary Kola Ologbondiyan, called on Inec  not to bend the rules in favour of the APC, warning that doing so would amount to an illegality.

Mr Ologbondiyan said: “We warn Inec because we are aware of underhand measures and moves by the leadership of the APC who summoned the Inec chairman and the governor of Zamfara State to a meeting. As such, we are warning that Inec must not allow itself to be subdued by the APC.”

Also, the director of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, said: “It does not matter whether it is the ruling party or any political party that is found wanting in meeting the deadline of the electoral commission. The party has to produce evidence that Inec was aware and represented in the primaries.”

Usman Abdul, the president of the Campaign for Democracy, added:  “The rule of law must be enforced. There is no APC executive that can say that there was a peaceful and conclusive primary in Zamfara, so Inec should stick to the rules and avoid being partisan.”

Several other political parties and former Inec officials have adopted the same stance, pointing out that bending the rules in Zamfara for the APC would be setting a bad precedent. They claim that if Inec allows the APC to field candidates in Zamfara, it would be open to the accusation of being partisan.