Accuses INEC of ‘Coup Against Democracy
INEC Complies with Federal High Court Ruling
The National Democratic Coalition (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of deliberately withholding the access codes required to upload its candidates’ names to the commission’s nomination portal ahead of the 2027 general elections.
This development follows a recent Federal High Court judgment directing INEC to deregister the NDC—a ruling that has thrown the party’s legal status and its participation in the upcoming elections into uncertainty.
Reacting to the crisis, the National Chairman of the NDC described the deregistration move as a “coup against democracy.” He alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is orchestrating the plot out of fear of the NDC’s rapidly growing popularity across the country.
Speaking on the administrative hurdles, the National Publicity Secretary of the NDC, Osa Director, revealed that the party had formally approached INEC to obtain the mandatory access credentials but was turned away.
According to him, electoral officials told the party they would “get back” to them, leaving the NDC unable to complete the nomination uploads before the court’s deregistration order was handed down.
“We approached INEC to collect the access code to upload the names of our candidates to the portal. They told us that they would get back to us,” Osa Director said.
He argued that the party’s inability to upload its candidates should not be framed as a failure on its part, insisting the bottleneck was artificially created by the commission’s refusal to issue the credentials.
The NDC spokesperson disclosed that the party’s legal team is already moving to halt the enforcement of the court judgment.
“We will return to INEC tomorrow. By then, I believe we must have filed a stay of execution in court,” he stated.
If granted, the stay of execution will preserve the status quo, allowing the NDC to retain its legal standing and continue its electoral preparations while the substantive appeal is heard.
The legal battle highlights the ongoing tension between judicial pronouncements and electoral timelines, particularly when political parties must meet strict statutory deadlines for candidate nominations amid active litigation.
However, the NDC remains defiant. Osa Director maintained that the party is committed to exhausting all legal avenues to overturn the judgment, protect its members, and ensure the NDC logo remains on the ballot for the 2027 polls.
