Action Alliance threatens protest if INEC excludes its candidates from 2023 polls

The Action Alliance (AA) on Saturday threatened to stage a peaceful protest at the National Assembly over the alleged exclusion of its candidates from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s list for the 2023 general elections.

The national chairman of AA, Adekunle Omo-Aje, stated this at a news conference at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.

Mr Omo-Aje said INEC’s alleged failure to upload the names of all the candidates presented to it by his leadership despite various court orders against the recognition of the list of candidates submitted by the sacked national chairman of the party, Kenneth Udeze, might jeopardise the forthcoming polls.

“We shall move to the National Assembly on a protest and to submit our protest letter and inform our lawmakers that, if the INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, is not called to order, there will be negative consequential effects on the outcome of 2023 elections.

“We shall use all legal channels to ensure we get justice against any form of exclusion from presenting our candidates for elections, and every such election stands the chances of annulment by law,” he said.

Mr Omo-Aje alleged, “Yakubu is covertly orchestrating a clandestine plan against the 2023 elections, and Action Alliance will not fold our arms and watch our nascent democracy rubbished and wounded.”

He said that Mr Udeze was the party’s national chairman up to June 2019 before he was suspended and expelled.

Mr Omo-Aje said he emerged as the national chairman after a national elective convention conducted in February 2020 and monitored by INEC officials.

According to him, despite fulfilling all INEC electoral guidelines and requirements according to the Nigerian constitution with the commission, the electoral umpire is “hell-bent on excluding Action Alliance from the coming 2023 general elections.”

“It has gotten to the level for us in Action Alliance to come out in the open and make categorical statements loud and clear on the rooftop to the hearing of all concerned citizens of this country.

“This forms the crux of our press briefing, to draw the attention of the relevant authorities and the nation in particular about the miscarriage of justice in INEC, actively promoted by its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu,” he said.

He also called on the Nigerian Bar Association to concertedly sanitise the legal profession by fishing out bad eggs among its members.

“In the course of our ordeal, we have seen a lot of these tactical unprofessional practices where lawyers are engaged by persons to sue themselves as if they were truly sued in real terms, ” he said.

At a national congress held by AA in Abuja, Solomon-David Okanigbuan emerged as the party’s presidential candidate, among others.

But retired Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the former aide to late Gen. Sani Abacha, also won the presidential primary election conducted by Mr Udeze’s faction on June 9 in Abuja.

The electoral umpire had recognised all the candidates presented to it by Mr Udeze’s faction, despite court judgements declaring that Mr Udeze was no longer a party member.

(NAN)