Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has alleged that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, was appointed to weaken opposition parties by fomenting crises within their ranks, citing the commission’s handling of the leadership dispute in the African Democratic Congress as evidence.
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Atiku made the allegation in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, on Monday and signed by the Atiku Media Office.
He alleged that INEC’s action, if confirmed, amounted to partisanship and could trigger a fresh crisis within the ADC, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The statement followed claims by Nafiu Gombe, who claims to be the National Chairman of the ADC, that he had successfully uploaded the names of the party’s candidates to INEC’s portal.
According to Atiku, the uploading of candidates’ names is part of the process for the 2027 general elections, made possible through access codes issued by INEC to political parties in line with the commission’s guidelines.
He, however, faulted the commission for allegedly granting an access code to Gombe despite his insistence that Senator David Mark leads the duly recognised national executive of the party.
The statement partly read, “On 11 July 2026, Nafiu Bala Gombe, who parades himself as National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), issued a statement that he has succeeded in uploading the names of his candidates on the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The uploading of the names of candidates on INEC portal is part of the process of the 2027 General Elections made possible by the granting of access codes to political parties in line with the umpire’s guidelines.
“Meanwhile, INEC has been mum, and has not denied or confirmed this obvious contradiction to the law and its own guidelines.”
Atiku alleged that by granting an access code to Gombe, INEC had acted contrary to the law and its own earlier recognition of the David Mark-led executive.
He continued, “By granting access code to Bala Gombe, a pretender, laying claims to the chairmanship of the ADC, though the law is not on his side and INEC has since validated the chairmanship of the Sen. David Mark-led exco, the electoral umpire is once again manifesting its partisanship. This was the same thing that the Prof Joash Amupitan-led INEC did when it illegally removed the names of the duly recognised ADC exco following the judicial rascality of Justice Lifu in ignoring a superior ruling of an appellate court.
“The so-called “successful” uploading of “candidates” by Nafiu Bala Gombe is neither grounded in law nor supported by INEC’s own guidelines. Nafiu Bala Gombe is not recognised as ADC Chairman. Mark is duly recognised. Can there be two recognised Chairmen of a political party? Possibly only in an INEC led by Amupitan. Can INEC grant two access codes to a political party? Certainly not.
“What INEC has done is a recipe for crisis and confirms that Prof Joash Amupitan was appointed to enable the weakening of the opposition parties by creating crisis even where none exists.”
Atiku also cited constitutional and electoral provisions to support his position, insisting that only candidates submitted by the David Mark-led leadership are valid.
He stated, “We wish to remind Prof Joash Amupitan’s INEC that Section 222 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) provides that candidates of a political party must emerge through recognised party primaries supervised by INEC. Section 84 of the Electoral Act, 2022 (as amended) stipulates that political parties must conduct primaries and submit only one validly nominated candidate per elective office to INEC. Nafiu Bala Gombe and his criminal gang did not conduct any primaries.
“The INEC granting of access code to Nafiu Bala Gombe is unconstitutional and unlawful. The only submitted candidates known to the law are those of David Mark. Any parallel submission such as Nafiu Bala Gombe’s is null and void.”
He, therefore, urged the electoral commission to refrain from actions capable of creating crises within opposition parties.
He added, “Prof Joash Amupitan should quit formenting crisis in the ADC and the other opposition parties and, by so doing helping President Bola Tinubu’s agenda of total state capture.”
INEC had yet to respond to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.
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