• INEC stresses need to meet requirements

THE process for formal registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced, according to Chief Tom Ikimi.

Ikimi, who is a chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), told reporters Tuesday in Abuja that the application in that regard was duly filed at the Abuja headquarters of INEC on Friday, last week.

Flanked by former Kano State governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau (ANPP) and Garba Mohammed Gadi (CPC), Ikimi maintained that the APC has met the statutory requirement for registration as a political party.

“Statutorily, the document has to be signed by the national chairman, secretary and treasurer of each of the merging parties. Now, only three parties have done their conventions: ACN, ANPP and CPC. Hence, there are nine people who have signed those documents. The request for submission, I understand, was done last Friday,” he said.

Faulting the notion that members of the APC are at war with one another over the leadership of the interim management committee, he said: “That is being discussed, it is being worked out and we need to consult further in order to agree to those names. There is no disagreement, we as merging committee are working and we have had a hitch free meeting this afternoon, we have taken fundamental decisions. Part of the decision is that we should consult further with our various parties.”

Ikimi reiterated the commitment of the merger committee to ensure that the APC is a broad based party that is open and truly committed to the upliftment of the ideals of democracy.

National Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Chief Lai Mohammed, who spoke in the same vein expressed optimism that all that is required by the law has been done to ensure registration of the APC.

“The most important thing is that the registration of the APC has been pulled through, it has been put in motion, all relevant papers have been submitted and I have no reason to doubt that it would be registered. We are very confident that before the end of the month, from the day we submitted the application, we should be issued a certificate by INEC.”

When contacted, the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, expressed willingness to register the APC if it meets the requirements of the law.

Jega who spoke through his media aide, Mr. Kayode Idowu, told The Guardian that “Of course, if it has been submitted, there is a time limit for INEC to process their submission. The law provides for 30 days from the date of submission. If they have submitted, there must be a day when they submit and INEC has 30 days within the day they submitted.

“The submission would have to be evaluated. If they submit, they are evaluated and once they meet the requirement, they are registered and if they did not meet condition, INEC would tell them they did not meet it. It’s a routine matter in INEC. There is nothing unusual about it. It would be treated in accordance with the law. Once the strict provision of the law is met, all well and good.”