Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has faulted the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove Senator David Mark as National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress.
INEC had earlier announced on April 1 that it would no longer recognise Mark’s leadership or the rival faction led by Nafiu Bala, citing a Court of Appeal directive to maintain the status quo before the legal dispute reached the Federal High Court.
Reacting during a BBC Newsday interview monitored by Punch, Atiku accused the commission of overstepping its role by interpreting a court ruling it was not mandated to clarify.
“We are accusing them [INEC] of misinterpreting the law, even though it is not their responsibility to do that. The court has already interpreted the law. We are also accusing them of bias,” he said.
When asked if the alleged bias was intended to favour President Bola Tinubu, he responded, “For sure.”
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party further argued that INEC’s action contradicts established Supreme Court rulings, which place party leadership disputes strictly within the control of political parties.
“The commission has not acted according to law because we have a number of cases decided even by the Supreme Court that the internal affairs of political parties are not the prerogative of any agency other than the political parties themselves, but they have ignored the ruling of the highest court in the land,” he said.
He also criticised the removal of the ADC leadership details from INEC’s website, describing the move as harmful to democratic principles.
“We [call it] dictatorship because we have seen evidence of government interference in the electoral process, even in the judicial process in the country,” Atiku said.
