The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has alerted the public to “false reports” alleging that a group led by Mr Nafiu Bala Gombe has uploaded the names of a presidential candidate and other nominees to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) nomination portal.

In a statement on Monday, the ADC described the claim as a blatant lie and said it is easy to verify.

According to the party, INEC does not issue nomination portal access or nomination codes to leadership it does not recognise.

The party added that the commission will not issue two codes to the same party; otherwise, every impostor would simply upload names to the portal and proclaim themselves the authentic leadership of a political party. “That is plainly not how the law or the Commission’s processes work,” the ADC said.

The party then asked for evidence of the purported upload by a group of individuals unknown to the law or the electoral body.

“We are also, by this statement, formally drawing the attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to what appears to be the forgery and unauthorised use of documents purportedly emanating from the Commission in a manner capable of creating confusion and undermining public confidence in its integrity and reputation as Nigeria’s electoral umpire.

“We trust that the Commission will investigate this matter and take the necessary steps to correct this blatant misrepresentation,” the party said.