Taraba State Independent Electoral Commission (TSIEC) has denied the All Progressives Congress (APC) claim that it deliberately excluded the party from the state’s November 8, 2025, local government election.
In a press statement issued to newsmen in Jalingo and signed by the commission’s secretary, Barr Eyamu Yaro, it explained that the party chose not to participate in the election after “robust engagements with all registered political parties in the state, including the APC on all of its activities in this regard.”
According to the commission, the party disagreed with the commission over the sales of forms, insisted that the forms be given out for free, threatened court action, and deliberately stayed away from the rest of the activities as contained in the amended timetable.
The statement, which reads in part, said, “To the greatest surprise of the commission, on Friday the 26th of September, 2025, at about 2 p.m., the state Secretary of the party, Mr Fidelis, barged into our office while the screening of candidates was ongoing.
“He came with files said to contain the list of his party’s candidates in the election.
“It was perplexing for all the members of the screening committee, because it is on record that neither the party nor any of its candidates did purchase any form as required by the Taraba State Appropriation Law 2025, which mandated the commission to raise a minimum of N50 million from sales of forms for the election and remit the same into government coffers.
“The commission hereby notes that the APC is only out to cause some mischief, because it had since planned not to participate in the election, by deliberately choosing not to buy the forms or allowing its members who wanted to contest to do so.
“Having waited until the expiration date for sales of forms, the APC’s claim that it is being edged out of the contest was false and laughable, but seemingly mischievous.
It was reported in some National dailies, not LEADERSHIP, that the commission allegedly rejected the list of APC candidates for the scheduled November 8th, 2025, local government chairmanship and councillorship elections.
In the report, the party insinuated that the commission deliberately planned to prevent it from participating in the elections by rejecting it.
