The African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council has alleged a plot to pressure the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into postponing the January 16 presidential election, warning President Bola Tinubu against any attempt to delay the poll.
The council raised the allegation in a statement issued by its Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, claiming that INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, could be summoned to the Presidential Villa and instructed to alter the election timetable.
With 80 days reportedly remaining before the election, the council urged Tinubu to abandon any such move and called on Amupitan to resist any pressure to change the date.
It also asked the INEC chairman to make any attempt to influence the commission’s timetable public.
“The election date belongs to Nigerians. It must not be rewritten behind closed doors at the Villa,” the council said.
The ADC campaign council argued that Nigerians had endured years of rising prices, declining incomes and economic hardship, insisting that voters should be allowed to assess the administration’s performance at the ballot box.
“A government that has made life this difficult for Nigerians must not be allowed to postpone its day of judgement,” it added.
The council also addressed concerns over Ebola, acknowledging the seriousness of the public health threat but warning against using the outbreak as a justification for delaying the election.
It urged health professionals to focus on containing the disease and called on INEC to take appropriate measures to protect voters and election workers during the exercise.
The council cited the reported position of the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) that there was no reason to postpone the poll, arguing that any decision to alter the timetable must be based on credible public health evidence rather than political considerations.
It further called on INEC, domestic election observers and international monitoring organisations to scrutinise any proposal to change the election date.
According to the council, any such proposal should be publicly announced, supported by published health evidence and subjected to public scrutiny.
“The Presidency must not use a health emergency to escape an electoral verdict,” it said.
The council, however, did not provide publicly verifiable evidence to substantiate its allegation of a plan to summon the INEC chairman and compel the commission to change the election timetable.
The Presidency and INEC’s responses to the specific allegations were not included in the statement.
