The Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Kano State chapter, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to investigate an official accused of issuing multiple inconsistent and undated monitoring reports on the party’s primary elections in the state.
The party made the call in a statement dated October 19 and signed by Magaji Mato Ibrahim, SAN, and four other lawyers.
The statement was issued in response to a public statement released on October 17 by Bola Aidi, SAN & Co., solicitors to five individuals claiming candidacy under the NDC in Kano.
DAILY NIGERIAN recalls that members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement in the NDC had petitioned INEC at its Kano office, accusing Hauwa Buhari, the commission’s head of election and party monitoring in the state, of compromising the original records of the party’s primary elections.
In their response, the NDC lawyers said the petition was submitted on the instructions of the party’s Kano State chapter, which they argued had the right to challenge the integrity of official records purporting to reflect the outcome of its primaries.
They also dismissed claims that the party’s leadership was unaware of the petition, saying such assertions were unsupported by documentary evidence.
“The petition complains of an objective documentary problem: the issuance by the same INEC officer of multiple signed versions of a monitoring report on the NDC Kano State primary elections,” the lawyers said.
They alleged that the reports contained material inconsistencies, with some undated versions listing individuals who were neither screened, cleared nor nominated by the party, while excluding candidates whose names appeared on Form EC9D signed by the party’s national chairman and national secretary.
The lawyers further alleged that the INEC official had previously acknowledged gaps in the report and that a corrected version was subsequently forwarded to the commission’s headquarters without formal communication or implementation.
They said the discrepancies warranted an internal investigation, irrespective of the outcome of any pending court proceedings.
“The existence of inconsistent official records signed by the same officer is a matter that the Commission is duty-bound to resolve in the interest of the integrity of its own processes,” the lawyers said.
The NDC legal team also raised concerns over suits reportedly filed at the Federal High Court by the five individuals claiming candidacy through Bola Aidi, SAN & Co.
According to the lawyers, the authentic candidates were not notified of the proceedings until recently, despite the cases potentially affecting their nominations.
They said the affected candidates had begun taking steps to establish the status of the cases and defend their nominations.
The lawyers argued that failure to join parties whose interests could be affected raised concerns about fair hearing, particularly in pre-election disputes.
They also maintained that the party’s screening and clearance records showed that the five individuals were not qualified to claim the relevant nominations.
“A monitoring report, even if admitted to have been made by INEC, cannot create a candidacy where the party’s own preconditions for participation were not met,” they argued, adding that such a report could not override the party’s official submission under Section 29 of the Electoral Act, 2026.
Appeal to INEC chairman
The NDC lawyers called on INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, to order an immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the issuance of the disputed reports by Mrs Buhari.
They urged the commission to withdraw or disown defective versions and issue a single, properly dated report reflecting the candidates nominated by the party and submitted to INEC.
They also called for appropriate disciplinary or administrative action if wrongdoing was established.
“The independence of INEC is best preserved by ensuring the accuracy and consistency of its own official records, not by resisting legitimate complaints about those records,” the statement said.
The lawyers said the party would pursue available legal remedies, including pending appeals, to protect the nominations of its candidates.
They urged all parties to allow INEC to address the disputed records administratively while the Court of Appeal determines the appeals on their merits.