The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has cautioned the African Democratic Congress (ADC) against proceeding with its planned congresses and national convention without the commission’s supervision, warning that such actions could violate a subsisting court order.
Amupitan issued the warning on Friday during an interview on Arise Television, following the party’s insistence on moving ahead with its convention despite INEC’s derecognition of a faction of its leadership linked to former Senate President David Mark and ex-Osun State governor Rauf Aregbesola.
He stressed that INEC’s stance was not arbitrary but rooted in ongoing legal proceedings and a directive from the court.
“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,” Amupitan said. “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.”
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According to him, the court had explicitly warned parties against taking steps that could undermine or render pending proceedings ineffective.
“Don’t do anything. Don’t take any step that will render any proceeding before the court nugatory,” he stated.
The INEC chairman explained that the issue of conducting congresses and conventions is already part of a matter before the court, with a motion seeking to halt such activities yet to be determined.
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“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.
Amupitan further warned that disregarding court orders could have far-reaching consequences, drawing from past electoral experiences in the country.
He cited the case of Zamfara State, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) lost all its electoral victories after the Supreme Court ruled that the party failed to comply with legal requirements during its primaries.
“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,” he said.
“And the implication is that the person with the second highest number of vote will be declared the winner.”
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He also referenced similar developments in Plateau State during the last general elections, noting that failure to obey court orders has consistently led to adverse outcomes for political parties.
“It happened in Plateau State during the last election… failure to obey the court order has consequences,” Amupitan noted.
While acknowledging that the party has the freedom to act, the INEC chairman reiterated the commission’s position of caution to avoid a repeat of past electoral crises.
“They are at liberty to do whatever they want to do, but INEC do not want to go into this situation again,” he said.
The development underscores a deepening leadership dispute within the ADC and raises concerns over the legal validity of any decisions taken outside the framework of ongoing judicial proceedings.
