We never granted Gombe access to nomination portal — INEC
By Taiwo Scholarstica
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied allegations by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that it granted the African Democratic Congress faction led by Nafiu Gombe access codes to upload candidates’ names to its nomination portal.
The commission in a statement maintained that it recognises only the National Executive Committee led by former Senate President David Mark dismissing claims that Gombe or his associates were given access to the portal.
Recall that former Vice President’, Atiku Abubakar through his Media Office on Monday accused the commission of aiding efforts to weaken the opposition by allegedly allowing Gombe’s faction to access its candidate nomination portal despite recognising the David Mark-led leadership of the ADC.
Atiku’s camp had also accused the commission’s chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, of allegedly fuelling internal crises within opposition parties and working to advance President Bola Tinubu’s political interests ahead of the 2027 general election.
Responding to the allegations, a senior INEC official rejected the claims, insisting that the commission conducts its activities strictly in line with the Constitution, the Electoral Act and its guidelines.
The official said, “INEC did not give access codes to Nafiu Gombe as claimed by Atiku’s Media Office. INEC operates based on the legal framework guiding elections and the electoral system in Nigeria.”
“Of course, we are talking about the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, the Electoral Act, and INEC’s guidelines and regulations.”
“So, based on that, the recognised leadership of ADC, according to our records, is that of the Senator David Mark-led leadership. If you go to our portal right now, Senator David Mark is the chairman of the ADC, while Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is the Secretary.”
“According to records, INEC did not give Nafiu Gombe access codes. So, whatever anyone is saying, we are not really interested,” he said.
The official further stated that Gombe lacks the legal authority to upload candidates’ names because he is not recognised by the commission as the chairman of the ADC.
“It’s as good as saying that Nafiu Gombe cannot upload the names of candidates on the INEC portal because he is not the officially recognised chairman of the ADC. Gombe, or any of his agents, aides or close allies did not get any access codes from INEC to upload names of candidates. In fact, the question is which portal did they upload the names? INEC does not recognise anything from Nafiu Gombe,” he explained further.
The commission also dismissed allegations linking its chairman to the leadership dispute within the opposition party.
“The allegation by Atiku’s Media Office that Amupitan is trying to weaken opposition parties is a baseless allegation. The attempt to drag Amupitan into political parties’ internal crisis is an exercise in futility.”
“Amupitan did not go to court. Amupitan did not drag Nafiu Gombe to court and Amupitan did not drag the David Mark-led ADC to court; it’s a party crisis, so why are they trying to drag Amupitan into it?”
“The allegations are baseless. They should rather focus on strengthening their party than blaming Amupitan for their problems.”
“As I earlier mentioned, Nafiu Gombe is not officially recognised and cannot have access to upload the names of candidates on INEC’s portal”, the senior INEC official emphasised.
Similarly, the ADC spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi denied that Gombe or his faction uploaded any candidates’ names to the commission’s portal, insisting that INEC recognises only the David Mark-led leadership and could not have issued a separate access code to a rival group.
The party also urged the commission to investigate the alleged forgery and unauthorised use of documents purportedly issued by INEC after claims by the rival faction that it had uploaded the names of the party’s presidential candidate and other nominees to the commission’s nomination portal.