Nigeria’s 18 registered political parties under the aegis of Inter-Party Advisory Council IPAC have appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to tinker with its electoral timelines and shift the June 3 deadline for the conduct of primary elections by the parties.
IPAC National Chairman, Engr. Yabagi Sani made the appeal on Tuesday in Abuja at the INEC’s interactive session with political parties.
He said all the nation’s registered political parties including the ruling All Progressives Congress APC and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party PDP were unanimous in making the demand.
He said IPAC had all along, chosen to remain a reliable partner and a formidable pillar by being consistent in its support and defence of INEC on the series of administrative reforms and introduction of technology to the electoral system.
“It is within the framework of the enduring bond between the INEC and IPAC in service to the country, that all the 18 registered political parties on the platform of IPAC are jointly, without exception, requesting the INEC to consider a slight adjustment to the recently announced timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 general elections.
“In summary, the General Assembly of IPAC, after an exhaustive examination of the INEC timetable and related issues, arrived at a unanimous decision to request for an extension of 37 days to the deadline of the time frame for the conduct of party primaries and resolution of conflicts arising from the primaries.
“By implication, the IPAC leadership is appealing to the INEC to extend the deadline for the conduct of party primaries and resolution of ensuing conflicts from the present INEC given date of 3rd June, 2022 to 4th August 2022”, he added.
According to him, some of the issues considered by the IPAC General Assembly which necessitated the call for extension in the timeframe of the present INEC timetable and schedule of activities are based on certain circumstances and developments that have hampered timely and strict compliance by the political parties to the timetable.
“Some of the constraining developments which, we believe were not considered and therefore, not factored by the INEC while drawing up its schedule of activities includes the following:
The Christian Lenten season and the Muslim fasting in the month of Ramadan respectively followed by the celebrations of Easter and Eid El Fitr, (Sallah), in which the vast majority of party members were involved.
“The developments inevitably, therefore, greatly disrupted planned activities and programmes of the political parties, leading to the loss of about two weeks out of the allotted time of the timetable. It is also, noteworthy that, the scenario was the first time that the two major events in the Christian and Muslim calendars would be occurring around the period of general elections.
“Some of the constraining developments which, we believe were not considered and therefore, not factored by the INEC while drawing up its schedule of activities includes the following:
The Christian Lenten season and the Muslim fasting in the month of Ramadan respectively followed by the celebrations of Easter and Eid El Fitr, (Sallah), in which the vast majority of party members were involved.
“The developments inevitably, therefore, greatly disrupted planned activities and programmes of the political parties, leading to the loss of about two weeks out of the allotted time of the timetable. It is also, noteworthy that, the scenario was the first time that the two major events in the Christian and Muslim calendars would be occurring around the period of general elections.
According to him, Danladi was petitioned in court in 2007 and 2018 when he contested as deputy governor to late Danbaba Suntai and when he was presented by the APC governorship candidate over issues bordering on his educational qualification.
He also cited how the APC lost out in presenting a governorship candidate in March 2019 because of a Supreme Court verdict which barred Danladi from running for the post based on inappropriate information provided to INEC.
In the petition to the APC Chairman which was copied INEC, Benjamin recalled that; “The suit bordered on dishonesty, false declaration and lying on oath as relates to the information contained in the affidavit supporting the personal particulars submitted to INEC by Abubakar Sani Danladi,” he said.
“Chairman may wish to note that Abubakar Sani Danladi submitted an Affidavit of change of name, which he purportedly deposed to sometime in December 1991. The Affidavit states that Sani Babu changed his name to Abubakar Sani Danladi.
“It is instructive to note that the APC Guidelines for Nomination clearly requires that when a candidate submits an Affidavit for change of name, the Affidavit must be accompanied with a Newspaper Publication of the change of name and a Deed Poll, neither of which Abubakar Sani Danladi submitted in support of his Affidavit of change of name.
“Records of Proceedings from the Court of Appeal where all the above allegations against Abubakar Sani Danladi were made contains all the evidence of the documents tendered in support of the allegations. The Records are in 2 volumes compiled by the Registry of the Court of Appeal. Copies of the CTC of the 2 volumes are submitted to the National Legal Adviser of the APC and marked EX. 1, for ease of reference.”
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