The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) on Wednesday insisted that it did not submit the names or Form EC9E documents of 10 Anambra State House of Assembly candidates published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The party, In a statement signed by its Director of New Media and Strategic Communications, Agada Abuh Theophilus, demanded an immediate electronic audit of INEC’s candidate nomination portal to establish how the disputed names and documents entered the commission’s system.

The NDC said the 10 names published by INEC were never uploaded by the party and did not emerge from its nomination and appeal processes.

It asked the electoral commission to explain how the documents of the affected candidates got into its system.

The candidates listed by the party are Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa for Onitsha South 1; Akpotue Obinna Chibuike for Onitsha South 2; Nwankwo Chiemerie for Orumba North; Maduagwu Eric K. for Anaocha 1; Ngoebisi Obinna for Idemili North; Isintume Charles for Njikoka 1; Nwachukwu Nonso for Nnewi South 1; Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne for Nnewi South 2; Nnonyelu Samson E. for Ayamelum; and Azotani Chuks Francis for Dunukofia.

The party said the nomination process required political parties to submit the names and particulars of their approved candidates, after which INEC would process and publish them.

It maintained that it uploaded only the candidates who emerged from its appeal process, but alleged that the commission rejected those nominees.

“It is the party’s legal responsibility to submit the names and credentials of its nominated candidates,” the statement said.

“The NDC did not collect or forward completed EC9E forms for the 10 persons whose names later appeared on INEC’s published list.”

The party therefore questioned how INEC obtained the credentials of the affected candidates.

“How did the Commission obtain their credentials when it is the party’s legal duty to submit the names of its approved candidates?” it asked.

The party recalled an earlier statement by its National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, who said he was the custodian of the access code issued to the party for uploading candidates.

The NDC said Cleopas never uploaded the disputed names.

According to the party, after the primaries and appeal process, Anambra stakeholders, working with party leadership, representatives of the presidential candidate and the appeals panel, produced a final list which was signed off by all parties involved.

It said the list was subsequently uploaded using the access code provided by INEC.

However, the party alleged that officials who controlled the backend of the nomination portal kept several of its candidates on “Pending” status, claiming the system already contained names submitted by field monitors during the primaries.

The NDC said It formally appealed the disputed names and submitted its actual nominees with a covering letter, but alleged that INEC refused to replace them.

It further alleged that the commission subsequently collected Form EC9 directly from the disputed candidates, bypassing the party, and published them as authentic NDC candidates.

Cleopas described the development as contrary to the Electoral Act and INEC’s guidelines.

He said that if the names submitted by the party did not tally with those INEC claimed to have received from its monitoring teams, the commission should have left the affected positions vacant rather than preload names and prevent the party from uploading its nominees.

“At the very worst, INEC could have left us with no candidates for those positions if it was unwilling to engage us on any perceived anomaly,” he said.

The NDC chairman also condemned what he described as an emerging pattern in which INEC prevents political parties from uploading their preferred candidates while imposing other names on them, particularly opposition parties.

He said such a development could fuel internal crises within political parties.

Cleopas vowed that the NDC would continue to pursue the matter until the situation was reversed.

The NDC called on INEC to conduct an electronic audit trail of its candidate nomination portal to establish how the 10 disputed names were entered into the system.

The party alleged that the names were introduced through the backend of the portal and demanded that the commission explain how and when this occurred.

It maintained that an electronic audit was necessary to establish the source of the disputed nominations and ensure transparency in the candidate nomination process. (Nigerian Tribune)