The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has been told in very clear terms by the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, that it has no reason not to register the All Progressives Congress, APC, claiming that it had met all the requirements for merger.
A statement by the ACN National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, on Sunday said INEC had no defensible reason not to approve the merger.
The statement said in spite of recent media reports, the emerging party’s leadership had no doubt that INEC would do what was right in accordance with the law.
It dismissed reports that INEC was planning to write a letter to the proponents of APC to find another name because of a court case instituted by a political association over the APC acronym.
“We are convinced that INEC has no discernible reason to write such a letter to us. In the first instance, there exists no court injunction anywhere restraining the commission from registering APC,” the party said.
“There could be many court cases, but until there is a court order, no one can pre-empt what a court will do and act on that basis.
“Again, we have met all the stipulated requirements. INEC has also inspected our proposed headquarters in Abuja and sighted all our interim officers.
“The merger process may be novel, but we have played according to the rules and we expect nothing less from INEC,’’ ACN said.
“We, therefore, call on the commission to do the proper thing right now – which is the registration of APC.
“We urge INEC not to compromise its neutrality and integrity by acting contrary to the law. We remind the commission that Nigerians are keenly watching how it will handle this merger issue,’’ it said.
According to the statement, Nigerians are watching what INEC will do as that will go a long way in determining if they can count on the commission to organize free, fair and credible elections in 2015.
“Given the already over-heated polity ahead of the 2015 elections, we believe INEC will not do anything that will aggravate the situation,’’ the statement said.
It appealed to all supporters of the emerging APC across the country to remain calm and be law-abiding over the registration issue. (NAN)
