INEC Cannot Be Allowed To Turn Excuses To A Code Of Conduct – ADC

The African Democratic Congress has criticized the by-elections conducted on Saturday, August 16, across 13 states and 16 constituencies.

The coalition party recently revealed that the polls were marred by intimidation and corruption.

Speaking via a press statement, the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said that the result of the by-elections does not reflect the true strength of the party as a coalition platform for opposition leaders.

According to him, the elections were further proof of the decline of Nigeria’s electoral process under President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress.

He stated that the polls were tainted by violence, stressing that vote-buying, manipulation, and administrative irregularities were the order of the day.

“The ADC noted that the party did not field candidates for most of the positions contested in the by-election.

Therefore, with all its flaws and irregularities, this election should not be seen as a measure of the strength or capacity of the Opposition Coalition, but rather as a sad reflection of how far the system has been corrupted against the will of the people.

What Nigerians witnessed in yesterday’s by-elections is yet another reminder that under the current administration, democracy itself, just like the economy and our national security, continues to decline under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC.

When elections are marred by widespread violence, when ballots are openly and brazenly exchanged for money, when opposition candidates are excluded without explanation, and when the very institutions entrusted to safeguard democracy become complicit, then the vote of the ordinary Nigerian ceases to have meaning.

In some states, nearly 300 thugs armed with rifles, knives, and cutlasses were arrested on election day. Is this democracy—or banditry disguised as voting?” he wrote.

The ADC maintained that in specific states, entire polling units were actually nullified following incidents of ballot box snatching and blatant voter intimidation.

The party concluded by saying that citizens being unable to cast their votes without fear of harassment or violence is becoming the new norm under the current administration.

“In one state, a vote-buyer was caught with N25.9 million intended to procure and corrupt the will of the people.

In another, election officials were themselves implicated in similar inducements.

This is no longer isolated malpractice; it is fast becoming the political culture of our electoral process under the APC.

After so many years, the failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in some states has once again raised questions about the Commission’s competence, sincerity, and perhaps, complicity.

Nigerians deserve elections that command the implicit confidence of every citizen and respect of the rest of the world. INEC must not be allowed to turn excuses to a code of conduct.

The bigger picture that we must all remember is that for better or worse, these by-elections represent the clearest indication of a dress rehearsal for 2027. If violence, vote buying, candidate intimidation and exclusion, and collusion between security forces and compromised election officials become the new normal, then Nigerians and the international community must brace themselves.

The ADC therefore calls on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to rise above his partisan interest and, for once, demonstrate genuine leadership by ensuring that Nigerians can cast their votes freely and safely.

The President must recognise that no government can claim legitimacy if it consistently presides over elections that citizens and the international community perceive as fraudulent,” he added.