The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said it no longer has confidence in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to independently protect votes cast for its candidates in the 2027 general elections.
This was just as the party said it would establish its own mechanism to monitor, collate and verify results from polling units, while recognising INEC’s statutory responsibility to announce and declare election results.
ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, disclosed this on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, saying the party had learnt from its experience during the 2023 general elections.
Abdullahi, who contested the 2023 Senate election in Kwara North, said many candidates trusted INEC’s assurances that results would be automatically transmitted to its Result Viewing Portal, IReV.
According to him, the subsequent failure of automatic transmission, which was attributed to technical glitches, had made the party more cautious ahead of the 2027 polls.
“We can no longer trust INEC to protect our votes for us. We are saying that we will vigilantly guard our own votes. We will protect our own votes,” Abdullahi said.
He explained that the ADC would not seek to usurp INEC’s legal authority to collate and declare results but would independently compile its own polling-unit results for verification.
“We admit and concede that INEC has the power and the authority to release the results of election and to collate results of election. But we are going to have our own arrangement through which we will collate our own results and to be sure that it tallies with whatever they are doing,” he said.
Abdullahi said the party would accept results where the final figures correspond with votes recorded at polling units, but would challenge outcomes it believes do not reflect the actual votes cast.
The ADC spokesman also raised concerns over alleged attacks on members of the party in different parts of the country, warning that continued violence could push victims towards self-defence.
He alleged that an ADC member was killed in Rivers State while organising a party meeting and that some young members organising an ADC meeting in Kogi State were attacked and hospitalised.
Abdullahi said the party had evidence of the alleged attacks and criticised the ruling party and security authorities for what he described as insufficient responses.
He warned that continued attacks without effective intervention could create conditions for retaliation and a breakdown of law and order.
“We are getting close,” Abdullahi said when asked whether the party had been pushed to the wall.
He, however, stressed that the ADC’s stated position remained opposed to political violence, citing the party’s governance document, the Orange Book, which he said promotes zero tolerance for violence.
The ADC spokesman said the party had also warned its candidates against rhetoric capable of provoking violence along ethnic or religious lines.
His comments come as political parties intensify preparations for the 2027 general elections, with the credibility of electoral technology, result transmission and vote collation expected to remain central issues in the political contest.
… 2027: We No Longer Trust INEC — ADC Reveals Alternative Plan Read More on … NaijaOnPoint.
What do you think about this?
Drop your opinion in the comment section.
FOLLOW US & Share this with someone who needs to see this.
