The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to investigate what it described as the forgery and unauthorised use of documents after a rival faction claimed it had uploaded the party’s presidential and other nominees to INEC’s nomination portal.
In a statement on Monday, national publicity secretary Bolaji Abdullahi dismissed the claim by a group led by Nafiu Bala Gombe as false, saying only the party leadership recognised by INEC has access to the commission’s nomination portal and has completed the nomination process in accordance with the Electoral Act.
“INEC does not issue nomination portal access or nomination codes to a leadership it does not recognise. Secondly, the commission will not issue two codes to the same party,” the statement said. “Otherwise, every impostor would simply upload names to the portal and proclaim themselves the authentic leadership of a political party. That is plainly not how the law or the commission’s processes work.”
The ADC challenged the rival group to produce evidence of any successful access to INEC’s portal. “The question, therefore, is straightforward: where is the evidence of this purported upload by a group of individuals not known by law or the electoral body?” the party asked.
Abdullahi urged INEC to investigate the “apparent forgery and unauthorised use of documents purportedly emanating from the commission” and to take steps to correct what the ADC called a “blatant misrepresentation” that could undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
The party reaffirmed that INEC recognises one leadership of the ADC and that that leadership had completed the nomination of its candidates. The statement said details of the party’s presidential candidate, former vice‑president Atiku Abubakar, and vice‑presidential candidate, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi, had already been uploaded to the INEC portal.
The ADC rejected suggestions of a leadership split and accused unnamed individuals of attempting to distract the party ahead of the 2027 general election. “As the election approaches, there will be repeated attempts to distract the party and mislead the public. We will not be distracted,” the statement said, adding that the party remains focused on presenting “a credible alternative” to voters.
The ADC urged members, supporters, the media and the public to rely only on official communications issued through the party’s authorised channels.
Attempts to reach the Gombe-led group and INEC for comment were not immediately successful.
