The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed claims that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) submitted the names of Chris Uba and Shamsuddin Barkindo as its presidential and vice-presidential candidates, insisting that only the party’s recognised leadership has access to its candidate nomination portal.
The clarification follows a social media post by Nafiu Bala, who claimed that his faction of the ADC had successfully uploaded the names of Chris Uba as the party’s presidential candidate and Shamsuddin Barkindo as the vice-presidential candidate through the INEC nomination portal.
To support the claim, Bala shared screenshots allegedly taken from the commission’s portal, alongside a document bearing the INEC logo.
The electoral body has distanced itself from the purported submission.
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, said the commission only granted portal access to the ADC leadership led by former Senate President David Mark, which it officially recognises.
Haruna explained that following internal inquiries, no official within the commission could verify the alleged upload of Chris Uba’s particulars.
He further confirmed that the only candidates submitted by the recognised ADC leadership are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the party’s presidential candidate and former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as the vice-presidential candidate.
The David Mark-led ADC leadership also dismissed Bala’s claims as false and misleading.
In a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC maintained that INEC could not have issued multiple nomination portal access credentials to different factions of the same political party.
The party called on the electoral commission to investigate what it described as the alleged forgery and unauthorised use of documents bearing INEC’s identity, warning that such actions could erode public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.
The latest development is another twist in the prolonged leadership crisis within the ADC.
Earlier this year, Bala challenged David Mark’s emergence as the party’s national chairman, insisting he was the rightful occupant of the position following the resignation of former chairman Ralph Nwosu.
Although the legal dispute temporarily created uncertainty over the party’s leadership, the ADC later expelled Bala, while INEC subsequently recognised the David Mark-led leadership as the legitimate leadership of the party.
