The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Joash Amupitan, has warned the African Democratic Congress against holding its planned congresses and national convention without the commission’s oversight.
Amupitan issued the warning on Friday during an interview on Arise TV, after the party indicated it would proceed with its convention despite INEC’s derecognition of the leadership linked to former Senate President David Mark and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola. He said such a move could attract grave legal consequences.
He noted that the commission’s decision was anchored on a subsisting court order, not arbitrary discretion.
“So if they are going ahead with their congress, with their convention, it’s left for them to look at it, whether it is in contravention of the court. INEC didn’t just take a decision. We didn’t just wake up one day and took this decision. There was something that led to it. There was an order of court,” he said.
The INEC chairman said the court had specifically directed parties to refrain from any action capable of undermining pending proceedings.
“Don’t do anything. Don’t take any step that will render any proceeding before the court nugatory,” Amupitan stated.
He noted that the question of conducting congresses and conventions was already a live issue before the courts.
“So, if already they are asking that don’t do any congress, don’t do any convention, it is a relief that is being claimed. And especially they filed a motion for that purpose, that motion has not been determined,” he added.
Drawing on past precedents, Amupitan cautioned that defying court orders could invalidate election results, with the candidate with the second-highest votes ultimately being declared winner.
“Let me tell you what happened in Zamfara. It happened in the past. We don’t want to conduct an election without this early warning, and at the end of the day, after you have won, the court again will come and declare the election invalid. And the implication is that the person with the second highest number of vote will be declared the winner,” he said.
He also cited Plateau State as another example where non-compliance with court directives affected electoral outcomes.
“It happened in Plateau State during the last election… failure to obey the court order has consequences,” Amupitan said.
While acknowledging the party’s right to make its own choices, he said INEC would not allow itself to be drawn into another avoidable crisis.
“They are at liberty to do whatever they want to do, but INEC do not want to go into this situation again,” he said.
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