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The African Democratic Congress, ADC, has alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC is facing mounting pressure from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, over preparations for the 2027 general elections.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, made the allegation during an interview with The Sun on Saturday.

According to Abdullahi, INEC is caught between preserving its independence and responding to political pressure from the ruling party.

“INEC is conflicted. There is tension between its desire to maintain its independence and the pressure it is facing from the ruling party. Sometimes it yields to that pressure, while at other times it tries to resist and uphold its independence,” he said.

He added that the ADC sympathises with the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, over what he described as the pressure being mounted on him, but stressed that the issue goes beyond the individual.

“We have sympathy for the INEC chairman because we understand the kind of pressure he is under. But this is not about him alone; it is about the institution of INEC.

“Politicians are not the only ones on trial. ADC is not the only party on trial, and neither is any other political party. INEC is also on trial, just as the judiciary is.

“INEC has an opportunity to demonstrate that its loyalty lies with the Nigerian Constitution and the Nigerian people. Every government eventually leaves office and is judged by history.

“History will remember Prof. Amupitan. He must decide the role he wants to play in Nigeria’s democratic history—whether he wants to be remembered with honour or with ignominy. The opportunity to make that choice is now,” Abdullahi stated.

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The National Spokesman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has said he is scared that the 2027 general elections may not hold due to massive hunger, unreliable INEC and insecurity.

Abdullahi attributed his fears to certain endemic factors from both the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government.

Abdullahi also cited insecurity, saying it may create situations where the election will not hold in many parts of the country.

He also said that the hunger in the land created by the President Bola Tinubu’s administration is another reason that people may not come out to exercise their franchise, adding that Nigerians are bitter.

“There is so much procurement INEC usually embarks on. A lot of them are offshore, outside the country. If by now INEC has not received funding for those procurements or has not been able to do those procurements, then the election is threatened. That is my number one fear.

“I am worried that INEC may not be ready for the election, whether deliberately or inadvertently. I have serious fear that INEC may not be ready for the election.

“They may rig the election and tell people to go to court, thinking that politicians will go to court, and that they will live happily thereafter,” The Sun quoted him as saying.

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By Emmanuel Agaji

There’s no method drug peddlers will not adopt to beat NDLEA operatives using many unconventional ways of concealing the substance of death they traffic.

But the operatives too have a solution to all the concealment methods as captured in this video.

In this clip, drugs were concealed in plantain peels but this did not escape the eyes of Gen Marwa men.

Watch: