The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC is facing mounting pressure from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, over preparations for the 2027 general elections.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, made the allegation during an interview with The Sun on Saturday.

According to Abdullahi, INEC is caught between preserving its independence and responding to political pressure from the ruling party.

“INEC is conflicted. There is tension between its desire to maintain its independence and the pressure it is facing from the ruling party. Sometimes it yields to that pressure, while at other times it tries to resist and uphold its independence,” he said.

He added that the ADC sympathises with the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, over what he described as the pressure being mounted on him, but stressed that the issue goes beyond the individual.

“We have sympathy for the INEC chairman because we understand the kind of pressure he is under. But this is not about him alone; it is about the institution of INEC.

“Politicians are not the only ones on trial. ADC is not the only party on trial, and neither is any other political party. INEC is also on trial, just as the judiciary is.

“INEC has an opportunity to demonstrate that its loyalty lies with the Nigerian Constitution and the Nigerian people. Every government eventually leaves office and is judged by history.

“History will remember Prof. Amupitan. He must decide the role he wants to play in Nigeria’s democratic history—whether he wants to be remembered with honour or with ignominy. The opportunity to make that choice is now,” Abdullahi stated.

Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has rejected Governor Ademola Adeleke’s response to allegations that wanted criminals were being harboured at the Government House, describing his reaction as evasive.

The party’s position comes after remarks by the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, during a visit to the Osun State Government House in Osogbo on Friday.

IGP Disu during the visit said he had received information that wanted criminals were being sheltered within the premises.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the party’s Director of Media and Publicity, Kola Olabisi, the APC maintained that Adeleke’s denial did not adequately address the allegations and insisted that some wanted persons were being protected from arrest.

Olabisi said, “The response of the governor to this weighty allegation of his keeping some of the daredevil criminals in the Government House was grossly evasive and was at variance with the expected response to the allegation.”

He alleged that a viral video showed a wanted suspect on the police watch list leading members of his group into a room within the Government House, adding that photographs also allegedly showed the governor in the company of political thugs at public functions.

The APC spokesman also claimed that “some individuals on the police wanted list had been appointed as political functionaries by the governor. Adeleke’s denial reflected what he described as propaganda.”

Responding on behalf of the Imole Campaign Council, Director of Strategic Communication, Jamiu Olawumi, dismissed the APC’s claims, saying they were baseless and amounted to an attempt to tarnish both the governor’s image and that of the Nigeria Police Force.

Olawumi said police officers attached to the Government House would have reported any criminal activity to their superiors if the allegations were true. 

He stated, “That allegation is spurious and irresponsible and it is another attempt to smear the image of the Nigerian Police Force.”

He added that officers stationed at the Government House represented the Inspector-General of Police and were responsible for maintaining security, arguing that suggesting criminals were operating there without detection implied a failure of the police system.

Olawumi also accused the APC of projecting practices from its own period in government onto the current administration, maintaining that Governor Adeleke had consistently insisted that no criminal should be protected.

He called on the police to invite APC leaders for questioning over the allegations, adding, “The governor has said no criminal should be spared, even if the person was his biological child.”

The dispute followed the Inspector-General’s remarks during his visit to Osun, where he stated that intelligence available to the police indicated that wanted criminals were being sheltered in the Government House. 

Adeleke responded by directing security agencies to pursue all suspected criminals in the state, including anyone related to him if found culpable.

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The National Spokesman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, says he fears that the 2027 general elections may not hold.

Abdullahi attributed his fears to certain endemic factors from both the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government.

Abdullahi also cited insecurity, saying it may create situations where the election will not hold in many parts of the country.

He also said that the hunger in the land created by the President Bola Tinubu’s administration is another reason that people may not come out to exercise their franchise, adding that Nigerians are bitter.

“There is so much procurement INEC usually embarks on. A lot of them are offshore, outside the country. If by now INEC has not received funding for those procurements or has not been able to do those procurements, then the election is threatened. That is my number one fear.

“I am worried that INEC may not be ready for the election, whether deliberately or inadvertently. I have serious fear that INEC may not be ready for the election.

“They may rig the election and tell people to go to court, thinking that politicians will go to court, and that they will live happily thereafter,” The Sun quoted him as saying.