Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately clarify reports that it has issued the Candidates’ Access Code for the 2027 elections to a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In a statement by Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, National Coordinator of HURIWA, the pro-democracy group said INEC, under Professor Joash Amupitan, has a duty of transparency to Nigerians.
According to HURIWA, silence on the matter “only fuels public suspicion and undermines confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the electoral process.”
HURIWA said it was alarmed by reports that the access code had been issued to the faction associated with FCT Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, despite subsisting court judgments and ongoing litigation over who controls the PDP.
“If indeed the reports are true that the Candidates’ Access Code has been issued to the faction associated with the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, then INEC must immediately explain the legal basis for taking such a consequential administrative step,” Onwubiko stated.
The group recalled that the Court of Appeal recently ruled that the tenure of former PDP National Legal Adviser, A.K. Ajibade, SAN, expired in December 2025, and that there was no credible evidence of his re-election.
The court held that any letter of instruction issued by Ajibade lacked legal validity — a decision HURIWA said “significantly undermines the legal foundation” of the March 29, 2026 convention conducted by the Wike-aligned faction.
HURIWA also noted that the PDP Board of Trustees, led by former Senate President Adolphus Wabara, had constituted an interim National Working Committee headed by Chief Kabir Tanimu Turaki, SAN.
The group said INEC has entered appearance in the suit.