Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo state, has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for recognising a faction of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by David Mark without reading the certified true copy (CTC) of the Supreme Court judgment.
The five-man panel of the apex had unanimously set aside the ruling of the appellate court, which asked the warring factions in the ADC to maintain status quo ante bellum.
The court, however, ordered all parties to return to the federal high court for the determination of the substantive case before the lower court.
After the news broke, INEC updated its portal with the names of David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola as the national chairman and secretary of the ADC.
INEC ACTED IN HURRY
Speaking to journalists on Monday after a meeting of a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Makinde said it was surprising that INEC updated its website to reflect the ADC leadership despite the judgment not being publicly available.
“Have you seen the certified true copy of that judgment? Nobody has seen it. It is not out. Maybe it will be out today,” he said.
“We were even surprised at INEC that they went ahead to update the ADC leadership on their website. Because nobody has seen the certified true copy of the judgment itself.”
Makinde said the commission’s action suggested a level of haste that raises concerns about institutional procedure.
“I do not understand how a national institution will be hasty and go ahead to update those data without even seeing the judgment,” he said.
“It is concerning to us because what it means is somebody can whisper a court judgment, and then they will go ahead on their website and update that.”
“I don’t think that is how an organisation that has been professionally run ought to operate.”
INTERIM LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY
On Monday, the PDP faction backed by the Oyo governor appointed Kabiru Turaki as chairman of a 13-member interim national working committee (NWC) to oversee the party’s affairs.
Makinde said the meeting that produced the committee was properly constituted in line with the PDP constitution.
“If you go to the constitution of PDP, you know who your NEC members are. By that constitution and talking of that membership, they came here. So it is legally constituted,” he said.
Furthermore, he added that the group would formally communicate its position to INEC and expects the commission to act in accordance with due process.
“We will write to them and we do hope that they will do their work and allow the democratic space in an unusual situation,” he said.
