INEC denies rejecting APC registration

• Party may adopt new name, says Senator

The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has denied reports that it had rejected the proposed merger of some political parties to form the All Progressives Congress, APC. This is as indication emerged yesterday that APC may adopt a new name before its convention.

In a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Kayode Idowu, the commission said contrary to the reports, it had never written to the merging parties to stop their bid.

The statement said INEC only declined an application by another association seeking to register as the All Progressives Congress of Nigeria, APCN, in line with provisions of the law. INEC said it took the action as a result of the fact that the acronym proposed by the association was similar to that of another already seeking registration.

The statement reads in part: “The attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has been drawn to reports in some newspapers today, Monday, April 29, 2013, that it has rejected a bid by some political parties to merge as the All Progressives Congress, APC. “The commission has not written to stop the merger bid as APC.

“The commission, in a letter by its Secretary dated April 23rd, 2013, only declined an application by another association seeking to register as the All Progressives Congress of Nigeria, APCN, for the reason that the acronym proposed by the association is similar to that of another already seeking registration.

“The commission hereby reassures Nigerians that it will always do the right thing as a dispassionate and impartial regulator of the political process.” Two newspapers yesterday carried a report of how INEC wrote the APC, asking it to forget its merger bid.

A source at the commission told our correspondent yesterday that the reports might have been sponsored by some politicians hell-bent on discrediting its modest efforts at reforming the electoral system. Meanwhile, APC may adopt a new name before its convention.

The Chairman, Contact and Mobilisation Committee, South-West zone, for the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Senator Solomon Ewuga, made the disclosure while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.