NDC accuses INEC of replacing 10 Anambra assembly candidates with ‘impostors’
NDC accuses INEC of replacing 10 Anambra assembly candidates with ‘impostors’
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of systematically removing its nominated candidates for the 2027 state assembly election and replacing them with “impostors”.
In a statement on Sunday, Moses Zuwoghe, national chairman of NDC, said the list of Anambra candidates for state house of assembly elections published by INEC contained 10 “strange names”.
Zuwoghe described the development as a deliberate plot to sabotage the NDC ahead of the general election and cause dissatisfaction among its supporters.
“The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, totally condemns the action of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its officials over the uploading and publication of unauthorized names in various constituencies, principally in the Anambra State House of Assembly (home state of our Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Peter Obi), where ten (10) names, unknown to the party; names not authorized by the party; names not sent by the party to INEC, in accordance with the law, have now been uploaded and published as candidates of the party,” the statement reads.
The party chairman emphasised that he never uploaded the names on the INEC portal, alleging that they were smuggled into the server by officials of the commission.
“I, as Chairman of the Party and custodian of the code given to the NDC for the upload of our candidates, never uploaded those names, and I unequivocally state that the party did not also upload those nine names.”
According to the NDC chairman, the names smuggled into the party’s list of candidates include Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa (Onitsha South 1), Akpotue Obinna Chibuike (Onitsha South 2), Nwankwo Chiemerie (Orumba North), Maduagwu Eric K (Anaocha 1) and Ngoebisi Obinna (Idemili North).
Others are Isintume Charles (Njikoka 1), Nwachukwu Nonso (Nnewi South), Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne (Nnewi South 2), Nnonyelu Samson E (Ayamelum), and Azotani Chuks Francis (Dunukofia).
‘INEC-CHOSEN IMPOSTERS’
Zuwoghe described the alleged infraction as unacceptable, saying it runs against the grain of the Electoral Act and INEC’s own guidelines.
He said the worst INEC can do when the names submitted by the party do not tally with those it claimed to have received from its monitoring teams on the field is to leave the space blank, rather than preload fictitious names and prevent the party from uploading its genuine candidates.
The NDC chairman called on the INEC chairman to urgently set up an investigation into the matter and unravel how this came to be.
He said the investigation should also be extended to other constituencies nationwide, where the party had observed a pattern of fencing out its authentic candidates for “INEC-chosen imposters”.
“The same investigation should also be carried out in other constituencies like Benue, Imo and others, as this mischief has not only caused an embarrassment to the party, its leadership and genuine candidates, but has also caused a lot of disaffection among the millions of the party’s supporters all over the country and in the Diaspora,” he said.
He frowned at what he described as “an emerging pattern whereby INEC deliberately prevents parties from uploading their rightful candidates, while criminally handpicking candidates for the parties and instigating a crisis of confidence and internal disharmony within the said parties”.
The NDC chairman vowed that the party would pursue the matter to the very end, ensuring that the right thing is done and the alleged mischief is reversed.
“Even as we move to approach the court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and restore our authentic candidates, the general public and our millions of supporters should note that these are not our candidates,” he said.
