By Lateef Ibrahim
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has denied reports alleging that the faction led by Nafiu Bala Gombe uploaded the names of a presidential candidate and other nominees to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination portal.
In a statement issued on Monday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the reports were false, maintaining that only a leadership recognized by INEC can access the Commission’s nomination portal.
According to the statement, INEC does not issue nomination portal access or nomination codes to an unrecognized leadership, nor does it provide multiple nomination codes to different factions of the same political party.
Abdullahi said the party had not seen any evidence to support the claim and called on those making the allegation to make such evidence public.
He also urged INEC to investigate what the party described as the alleged unauthorized use of documents purportedly originating from the electoral commission, saying such actions could create confusion and affect public confidence in the electoral process.
The statement comes amid an ongoing leadership dispute within the ADC, with rival groups laying claim to the party’s national leadership ahead of preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Neither INEC nor the Nafiu Bala Gombe faction had publicly responded to the ADC’s statement as of the time of filing this report.
