The decision to de-recognize the leadership of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) led by David Mark has been criticised by Attah Ochinke, a former attorney general of Cross River State and a chieftain of the ruling party. Ochinke claims that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) misunderstood a court order.
In his dissatisfaction with INEC’s handling of the case, Ochinke—a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association in Cross River State—insisted that the commission’s interpretation of the current court decision was incorrect.
The APC mainstay stated in an interview that the court decision required all parties to continue as before until the substantive lawsuit was decided.
He went on to say that one ADC faction had gone to court to try to stop Mark’s executive committee from doing its job.
Instead of granting the request, he claims the court ordered everyone to stick with the current leadership structure until the litigation is over.
“Technically, keeping things as they were meant to be meant keeping the leadership team headed by David Mark,” Ochinke stated.
But he said INEC had misunderstood the instruction and was responsible for the party’s leadership vacuum, therefore he held the commission responsible.
He made the point that the party had leadership the whole time and that it couldn’t be claimed that the status quo had been preserved by removing current leadership.
Ochinke went on to criticise INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan, pointing out that, given his expertise in law, many were hoping for a more nuanced reading of the court’s decision.
It has come as a shock to me because the chairman of INEC is a highly regarded Nigerian lawyer and professor. “One would think he’d understand the meaning of that order,” he added.
In addition to reinforcing preexisting worries about INEC’s legitimacy, he said that the commission’s decision might further erode public faith.
Going forward, Ochinke suggested that the ADC, instead of appealing, seek judicial clarification of the court order because the latter might be a time-consuming process.
He denied accusations that the ruling party was involved in opposition party internal conflicts and instead voiced his hope that the APC would win future elections by emphasising the importance of reliable electoral processes.
Claims like these have no basis in fact. He said that all of the people involved in the PDP, ADC, and Labour Party crises were members of those parties.