Last week, the leadership of the ADC, led by former Senator David Mark and several notable chieftains of the party – Atiku Abubakar, Rauf Aregbesola, Peter Obi, Dino Melaye, etc – stormed the INEC headquarters asking for the resignation of the Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan.
These leaders demanded that Amupitan leave the office because he cannot be entrusted with the integrity of the 2027 general elections. According to these leaders, as his decisions to delist the party’s leadership and order a nationwide revalidation of voters’ cards reflect a certian level of partisan politics which tilts towards the ruling party, All Progressive Congress (APC).
This protest by the opposition is, however, not something that has not been seen before by an opposition party. In fact, the political party of the present did the same thing to the ruling People’s Democratic Party back then in 2013. The interesting part is that the current president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, led the protest against the same electoral body, INEC. They also wanted the then Chairman, Attahiru Jega to vacate the position because they believed that the 2015 general elections could not be entrusted in his hands as they felt disgruntled with a couple of off-cycle elections in 2013.
What actually happened at INEC in 2013?
ENigeria Newspaper recalled that in Anambra in 20213, William Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) won the governorship election with 180,178 votes to succeed Peter Obi as governor of Anambra. Tony Nwoye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came in second with 97,700 votes, while Chris Ngige of the APC came in third with 95,963.
However, APC leaders were displeased. They called for the cancellation of the November 16 Anambra governorship election. The APC also called for the dissolution of the commission’s management and demanded Jega’s resignation.
Muhammadu Buhari, who went on to become president in 2015, Bisi Akande, the APC’s national chairman at the time, Bola Tinubu, who went on to become president in 2023, Ogbonnaya Onu, who also passed away, and Nasir El-Rufai, who went on to become governor of Kaduna state, all led the demonstration.
From the APC national secretariat on Blantyre Street in Wuse II, Abuja, the demonstrators walked around five kilometers to INEC’s location at Zambezi Crescent in Maitama area.
The governors of Ogun and Ekiti at the time, Ibikunle Amosun and Kayode Fayemi, along with other members of the national parliament, spearheaded the march’s first phase.
Later, Buba Galadima and El-Rufai, who are currently chieftains of the NNPP and ADC respectively, organized the parade.
Protesters carried signs that said, “Cancel Anambra Governorship Election Now,” “Election Fraud Must Stop Now,” “Anambra Election: Jega, not the INEC Messiah, Resign Now,” and “2015, No hope with Jega.” They also hoisted brooms, the APC’s emblem.
At first, security guards blocked entrance to the commission’s gate and erected barricades close to the INEC headquarters. However, the protester managed to breach the first cordon before being stopped by security personnel supported by an armored truck.
“We are here to serve warning signal to INEC. As an institution, they do not represent the interest of Nigeria. We are calling for dissolution of INEC immediately,” Tinubu had said.
“We are determined for liberty, to liberate Nigeria, to change election thievery, change the electoral fraud, to change the institution here. Jega cannot manage the people, he should resign immediately. No one will accept this result from him. We have engaged him enough with excuses; we are no more taking them. This is our institution.”
Dino Melaye, who is now also an ADC chieftain, and part of ADC’s protest last week, said electoral reforms would transform the country.
“Once we have a sanitised electoral system, we will celebrate the obituary of PDP forever,” he had said during the protest.
