The promoter of the Alliance for Democratic Action (ADA), Umar Ardo, has explained why he opposed the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Naija News reports that Ardo spoke on Thursday during an appearance on Arise Television’s Morning Show programme.
He alleged that the NDC failed to comply with constitutional and electoral procedures required for the registration of a political party.
According to Ardo, the process of registering a political party begins with the formation of an association and submission of a formal letter of intent to INEC containing the proposed party name, acronym and logo.
He claimed that the NDC initially wrote to INEC seeking registration, but the commission rejected the request because the party’s logo allegedly resembled those of existing political parties and associations.
Ardo said the association ought to have challenged the decision in court within 14 days, but instead requested a reconsideration from INEC.
He further alleged that after receiving no response from the commission, the group proceeded to court, relying only on its letter of intent.
According to him, this was insufficient to establish compliance with the Electoral Act and constitutional requirements.
Ardo stated that associations seeking registration must complete Form EC15 and upload relevant documents to INEC’s portal, including the party constitution, manifesto, list of national executive members and evidence of payment of prescribed fees.
He alleged that the NDC neither completed the form nor uploaded the required documents before instituting legal action.
Ardo maintained that INEC was aware that the association had not fulfilled the conditions for registration.
He argued that the commission should have resisted and appealed the court judgment that favoured the NDC.
He said, “Why I oppose NDC? I need to explain that so that the castigation against me and then the misunderstanding by a lot of Nigerians, maybe assuaged
“You see, before you register a political party, the steps are one, you form an association. So they formed an association of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC).
“Then you will write a letter of intent to INEC and say to INEC that we have formed this association and are serious about being registered as a political party. This is the name of the association. This is the acronym of the association, and this is the logo of the association. Can you open the portal for us so that we can apply in the portal by filling in EC15? This is the form that you must fill in if you want to register.
“NDC wrote to INEC this letter of intent. INEC then wrote back to NDC, saying, ” Look, NDC, this is your registration. We cannot continue with it because your logo is different. It is similar to other political parties and political associations; we cannot continue with you.
“Then the law says that if INEC writes to such a letter within 14 days, you should go to court. But NDC now wrote back to INEC and said, INEC, reconsider your position. INEC did not answer.
“After about a month or so, NDC wrote again. It said, we are giving you one month, you know, one week to reconsider.
“INEC did not answer. And then NDC picked this letter and went to court. And with that letter, the court said NDC had fulfilled all the requirements of the Constitution, all the requirements of the Electoral Act and all the guidelines, which is not true.
“This is because until you fill in the form EC 15, where you upload the name of your party. Two, you upload this acronym. Three, you upload the logo. Four, you upload the Constitution. Five, you upload the manifesto. Six, you upload the executive members, the national executive members. Seven, you upload the fee. You have to even pay a fee and get the receipt for INEC to give you access to the portal.
“You have to upload it. You have to upload 29 documents to prove that you have applied. NDC did not do that. NDC did not pay. NDC did not fill out that form. NDC did not do anything. NDC just took one letter to court, and the court said, You have fulfilled everything. If NDC can mislead the court, if NDC can beguile the gullible Nigerians, NDC could not do that to INEC because INEC knows the truth. INEC knows that NDC did not apply. So once they come with that judgment, INEC ought to have resisted and appealed.”
