Imo Group Seeks Action Peoples Party’s Deregistration

A group, Civic Action for Democracy, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately deregister the Action Peoples Party (APP).

Executive director of Civic Action for Democracy (CAD), Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, made the call at a press conference in Owerri, the Imo State capital at the weekend.

Ngoforo claimed that the continued recognition of APP as a political party constitutes a clear and present danger to Nigeria’s democracy and national security.

He raised questions how the party was exempted from deregisteration alongside other political parties that failed to clinch any seat during the general elections in February 2020.

Ngoforo argued that APP was lawfully deregistered on February 6, 2020, and that the deregistration was affirmed by the supreme court in March 2022, saying that APP has no legal existence as a political party.

The group called on the National Assembly to summon INEC leadership for questioning about the APP irregularity and consider legislative measures to prevent similar institutional corruption in the future.

The group called on INEC to explain to Nigerians the circumstances surrounding an alleged six-year interim order against APP deregistration, saying “there is no six-year interim order because no such legal absurdity exists in Nigerian jurisprudence.

“INEC must publicly release all documentation related to the claimed court order that allegedly restrained the commission from deregistering APP in 2020, or publicly admit that no such court order exists or ever existed”, Ngoforo said.

Further, the group called on the office of the National Security Adviser to immediately classify the matter as a national security threat and initiate comprehensive investigations into the APP conspiracy and its potential to destabilise the 2027 elections.

They called on security agencies to investigate the financial conspiracies surrounding the continued recognition of the party.

Ngoforo said “the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Police Force, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must launch joint investigations into the financial dimensions of this conspiracy, following the money trail from corrupt INEC officials to APP owners and their political backers.

“The Attorney-General of the Federation must take over the prosecution of this matter in the national interest, ensuring that all individuals involved in this criminal enterprise face the full weight of the law”, he said.

Meanwhile, Ngoforo has called on international election observers, diplomatic missions, and democracy support organisations to take note of what they termed “brewing crisis and use their influence to press for immediate corrective action”.