By Opeyemi Adelakun
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied claims that it granted nomination portal access to Nafiu Gombe or members of his faction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), maintaining that the Senator David Mark-led leadership remains the only structure recognised by the electoral body.
The clarification followed allegations by the media office of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that INEC had issued access codes to Gombe’s faction to upload candidates for the 2027 general elections.
Reacting to the allegations, a senior INEC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the commission operates strictly in line with the Constitution, the Electoral Act and its regulations.
“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,” the official said.
The source stated that INEC’s records recognise only the leadership headed by Senator David Mark.
“According to our records, the recognised leadership of the ADC is that of Senator David Mark. If you go to our portal right now, Senator David Mark is the chairman of the ADC, while Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is the secretary.”
The official also dismissed claims that Gombe or his associates had access to the commission’s nomination portal.
“According to records, INEC did not give Nafiu Gombe access codes. Whatever anyone is saying, we are not really interested.”
The source further stressed that Gombe lacks the legal authority to upload candidates’ names because he is not the recognised national chairman of the party.
“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.”
The commission also dismissed allegations that its chairman was attempting to weaken opposition parties, describing the claims as unfounded.
“The allegation that Amupitan is trying to weaken opposition parties is baseless. 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,” the official said.
The controversy comes amid conflicting claims over candidate nominations within the ADC ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Earlier, the party, through its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, also denied reports that Gombe’s faction had uploaded candidates to the INEC portal, insisting that only the David Mark-led leadership has access to the commission’s nomination platform. The party further urged INEC to investigate what it described as the alleged forgery and unauthorised use of documents purportedly issued by the electoral commission.
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