The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Joash Amupitan, has issued a stern warning to the African Democratic Congress, urging the party not to proceed with its planned congresses and national convention without INEC’s oversight.
Speaking in an interview on Arise TV on Friday, Amupitan’s caution followed the ADC leadership’s insistence on going ahead with its convention, despite the commission’s derecognition of the faction linked to Senator David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola.
He noted that INEC’s action is rooted in legal considerations, particularly an existing court order.
“So if they are going ahead with their congress, with their convention, it’s left for them to look at it, whether it is in contravention of the court. INEC didn’t just take a decision. We didn’t just wake up one day and took this decision. There was something that led to it. There was an order of court,” Amupitan said.
The INEC boss further emphasized the importance of respecting ongoing judicial processes. “Don’t do anything. Don’t take any step that will render any proceeding before the court nugatory,” he warned.
He explained that the issue of holding congresses and conventions is already part of a pending legal matter.
“So, if already they are asking that don’t do any congress, don’t do any convention, it is a relief that is being claimed. And especially they filed a motion for that purpose, that motion has not been determined,” Amupitan added.
Highlighting the potential repercussions of ignoring court orders, he cited past electoral precedents.
“Let me tell you what happened in Zamfara. It happened in the past. We don’t want to conduct an election without this early warning, and at the end of the day, after you have won, the court again will come and declare the election invalid. And the implication is that the person with the second highest number of vote will be declared the winner,” he said.
He also recalled a similar scenario in Plateau State, where failure to follow court directives affected electoral outcomes.
“It happened in Plateau State during the last election… failure to obey the court order has consequences,” Amupitan noted.
While affirming that the ADC is free to make its own decisions, the INEC chairman stressed that the commission will not allow history to repeat itself. “They are at liberty to do whatever they want to do, but INEC do not want to go into this situation again,” he concluded.
