APP Is A Dead Party Kept Alive To Cause Chaos In 2027 — CAD Blasts INEC

The Civic Action for Democracy (CAD) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of deliberately sustaining the deregistered Action Peoples Party (APP) to orchestrate political instability ahead of the 2027 general elections. The group said the commission’s conduct amounts to a calculated attempt to contaminate the electoral process and provoke a constitutional crisis.

Addressing journalists in Owerri, the Executive Director of CAD, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, said INEC’s continued recognition of APP was not an error but a pre-arranged operation by what he described as an “electoral cartel” working within and around the commission. According to him, APP ceased to exist in 2020 and was affirmed dead by the Supreme Court in 2022, making any further recognition of the party legally impossible.

Ngoforo accused INEC of misleading the public by claiming there was a subsisting court order stopping APP’s deregistration. He maintained that no such injunction was ever issued, and no judge in Nigeria delivered any ruling in favour of APP after its deregistration. He insisted that INEC’s explanation was a fabrication designed to keep the defunct party alive for ulterior motives.

He argued that even if such an injunction existed, interim orders in Nigerian jurisprudence do not survive beyond fourteen days unless renewed. According to him, the claim that a non-existent injunction has remained valid for six years is further proof that INEC’s explanation cannot withstand legal scrutiny.

The CAD director noted that concerns around APP’s status did not begin today. He recalled that in 2020, after the deregistration exercise, Lagos-based lawyer Eunice Atuejide had demanded evidence of the supposed court order. INEC, he said, failed to produce any documentation then and has continued to avoid addressing the matter transparently.

Ngoforo stated that the controversy resurfaced in 2024 when APP suddenly participated in a local election in Rivers State, despite its deregistration being upheld by the apex court. He said this development prompted another legal challenge from senior lawyer Barrister Ukpai Ukairo, who filed a suit demanding that INEC expunge APP from its register permanently.

According to him, the lawsuit has now exposed deeper internal compromise within INEC, revealing actors who are allegedly manipulating the commission’s systems to keep APP active for political purposes. He claimed that the illegal recognition of APP is being driven by a powerful political network, including a serving federal lawmaker and an influential INEC contractor.

Ngoforo cited the controversial councillorship seat reportedly awarded to APP in Jigawa in 2024 as further evidence that INEC was sustaining the party artificially. He said that seat “did not come from a legitimate electoral contest” but was created to give APP the appearance of political activity ahead of the 2027 elections.

He warned that the objective of this manoeuvre is to use APP’s illegality as grounds to challenge the credibility of the 2027 polls. According to him, the plan is to field APP candidates nationwide, wait for them to lose, and then secure a post-election ruling that INEC erred by allowing a deregistered party onto the ballot.

Ngoforo argued that such a ruling could be weaponised to discredit the entire election, triggering demands for cancellation or judicial intervention. He described the scheme as “a premeditated setup designed to manufacture chaos and throw Nigeria into avoidable turmoil.”

He warned that foreign-backed political actors may also leverage the APP controversy to push narratives of electoral illegitimacy, thereby igniting national tensions. According to him, countries like Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire had experienced major political breakdowns caused by similar manipulation of party lists and electoral procedures.

Ngoforo said the implications go beyond political competition and touch directly on national security. He called for urgent intervention by the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the network sustaining APP.

He stressed that while the INEC Chairman did not originate the anomaly, the responsibility for restoring credibility now rests squarely on his shoulders. According to him, the commission must immediately declare APP deregistered, remove it from all records, and expose those responsible for keeping the party alive.

Ngoforo concluded that failure to act swiftly would confirm that a conspiracy to derail the 2027 elections is already underway. He said CAD and other pro-democracy groups will intensify pressure until INEC cleans up its system and restores public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process