The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the publication of 10 candidates as its nominees for the Anambra State House of Assembly, insisting that the party neither submitted their names nor forwarded their nomination documents.
In a statement on Wednesday signed by Director of New Media and Strategic Communications, Agada Abuh Theophilus,
the NDC called on INEC to conduct an immediate electronic audit of its candidate nomination portal to determine how the disputed names and documents entered the commission’s system.
The party alleged that the 10 individuals did not emerge from its nomination and appeal process and were never uploaded to INEC’s portal by authorised party officials.
According to the NDC, the disputed candidates are Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa for Onitsha South I; Akpotue Obinna Chibuike for Onitsha South II; Nwankwo Chiemerie for Orumba North; Maduagwu Eric K. for Anaocha I; and Ngoebisi Obinna for Idemili North.
Others are Isintume Charles for Njikoka I; Nwachukwu Nonso for Nnewi South I; Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne for Nnewi South II; Nnonyelu Samson E. for Ayamelum; and Azotani Chuks Francis for Dunukofia.
The party maintained that under the nomination process, political parties are responsible for submitting the names and particulars of their duly nominated candidates to INEC for processing and publication.
It said it uploaded only candidates who emerged from its internal nomination and appeal process, alleging that INEC rejected some of the names approved by the party.
“It is the party’s legal responsibility to submit the names and credentials of its nominated candidates,” the statement said.
“The NDC did not collect or forward completed EC9E forms for the 10 persons whose names later appeared on INEC’s published list.”
The party consequently asked INEC to explain how it obtained the credentials and nomination documents of the affected individuals if they were not submitted by the NDC.
“How did the commission obtain their credentials when it is the party’s legal duty to submit the names of its approved candidates?” the party asked.
Citing an earlier statement by its National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, the NDC said the chairman, as a custodian of the access code issued to the party for uploading candidates, did not upload the disputed names.
The party explained that following its primaries and appeal process, stakeholders in Anambra State worked with the national leadership, representatives of its presidential candidate and the appeals panel to produce a final list of candidates.
According to the statement, the final list was approved by the relevant stakeholders before being uploaded through the access code provided by INEC.
The NDC alleged, however, that several of its nominees remained on “Pending” status on the portal, with INEC officials reportedly claiming that the system already contained names submitted by field monitors who observed the party’s primaries.
The party further alleged that even after it formally challenged the affected names and submitted what it described as its authentic nominees with a covering letter, the commission declined to replace them.
It also accused INEC of subsequently obtaining Form EC9 documents directly from the disputed candidates and publishing their names as NDC candidates without the party’s authorisation.
Cleopas described the alleged development as contrary to the Electoral Act and INEC’s guidelines for candidate nominations.
He argued that if the names submitted by the NDC differed from those INEC claimed to have received from officials who monitored the primaries, the commission should have left the affected positions vacant rather than, as alleged, populate the portal with names not authorised by the party.
“At the very worst, INEC could have left us with no candidates for those positions if it was unwilling to engage us on any perceived anomaly,” Cleopas said.
The NDC chairman also expressed concern over what he described as a pattern of interference in the nomination processes of political parties, particularly opposition parties.
He alleged that such actions could deepen internal disputes within political parties and undermine confidence in the electoral process.
Cleopas vowed that the NDC would continue to pursue the matter until the disputed nominations were addressed.
The party consequently called for a comprehensive electronic audit trail of INEC’s candidate nomination portal to establish when, how and by whom the 10 disputed names and accompanying documents were uploaded.
It maintained that such an audit would provide clarity on its allegation that the names were introduced through the backend of the commission’s nomination system.