The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reportedly failed to meet the deadline to upload the names of the National Assembly candidates on the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
According to the SaharaReporters, the APC could not upload its National Assembly candidates on the portal before Friday, June 17 deadline. As a result, it is now relying on using the “back door” to pressurise the electoral body to extend the deadline.
The online newspaper on Monday said that APC leaders would meet with INEC officials on Tuesday to “secretly resolve” the ruling party’s inability to upload the names before the deadline.
“The APC could not upload its NASS candidates before the deadline. They are trying to use the back door to do it. INEC must not give them an extension.
“They are trying to meet with INEC tomorrow (Tuesday) to see how they can resolve it quietly,” a top source revealed.
It learnt that the inability of the ruling party to meet the deadline was a sequel to the controversies surrounding the party’s plot to manipulate and replace the names of some of the candidates who won the National Assembly primaries with the names of favoured individuals, some of whom did not even participate in the primaries.
Chief among those in the centre of such controversies is the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, who is hell-bent on making the list despite not participating in the Senatorial primary election in his state – Yobe State.
Newsflash Nigeria on Saturday reported that the APC Yobe North Senatorial District candidate in the 2023 general elections, Bashir Sheriff Machina, said he would go to court to seek legal redress if the party failed to remove the name of the Senate President, Lawan, which was penned down to be submitted to INEC.
The ruling APC had submitted Lawan as its candidate to INEC despite his (Lawan) non-participation in the senatorial primary – an action Machina on Friday described as illegal and inhuman.
Addressing a press conference last Friday, Machina, who was declared the winner of the primary election conducted for Yobe North, had said he remained the candidate of the APC in the senatorial district.
Machina had said, “I remain the candidate of the APC Yobe North senatorial zone as duly elected. I did not withdraw for anybody and I will not withdraw because as a matter of fact, it is a mandate given to me by members of our great party, the delegates. So surreptitiously removing my name, I consider (it) as very undemocratic, illegal and of course inhuman.
“I will take measures by first appealing to my party that if this action was truly done, it should be corrected, possibly if it was erroneously done. And it was deliberately done, we are actually seeking redress from the National Working Committee of our party under the leadership of Senator Abdullahi Adamu. I remain the candidate.
“I remain the candidate and it remains so. I hope our leadership will take the necessary measures. We will work hard to exploit and explore all the necessary channels as provided by our guidelines. In the event of the contrary, as Nigerian citizens and as law-abiding citizens, the constitution of our country is the overall law above every aspect of our lives as Nigerians, I would have no choice but to resort to court (legal) action.”
Lawan had instead of contesting for the Yobe North Senatorial ticket challenged for the presidential ticket of the party but lost to a former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu.
Source: Sahara Reporters
