The Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, has criticised the African Democratic Congress over its demand for the resignation of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Amupitan Joash, warning that such calls could further heighten political tension in the country.
Moro, who spoke during an interview on Arise Television on Thursday, cautioned against the continuous escalation of political tension through protests and public agitation.
His remarks come amid a growing dispute between the opposition party and the electoral umpire over recent developments affecting the ADC’s leadership.
Barely a week ago, the party raised alarm over what it described as a calculated plot to impose a one-party state ahead of the 2027 general elections, accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress of using INEC to weaken opposition parties.
ADC National Chairman, David Mark, who spoke at a press briefing in Abuja, also demanded the immediate sack of the INEC chairman over alleged bias and unlawful actions.
The controversy deepened on Wednesday when INEC announced the delisting of key ADC figures, including Mark and the party’s National Secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, citing compliance with a court order directing the commission to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the case before a trial court.
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, said the decision followed judicial directives, further fuelling disagreement over the interpretation of the “status quo ante bellum” order.
However, according to Moro, the demand for resignation was not new in Nigeria’s political history and should not be seen as the ultimate solution to electoral disputes.
“If you are a very good student of Nigerian political history, you will know that that is not the first time that a political party has insisted or demanded that the chairman of the electoral umpire should resign. I don’t think that is the ultimate.
“Assuming without conceding that the INEC chairman resigns today, who is going to midwife the 2027 election? If you are saying that the INEC chairman is biased, the concomitant implication is that the electoral body is no longer capable of conducting the election.
“So because he is accused of misinterpreting, he should resign. I don’t believe in that. And I don’t believe in the constant raising of the political temperature of this country by this constant protest,” he said.
Moro also criticised what he described as the continuous heating up of the polity through protests, noting that recent demonstrations have largely been driven by the ADC despite the party being just one of several parties in the electoral process.
“You saw the protest yesterday by members of the ADC. The ADC is just one political party out of the 19 that are participating in the electoral process in Nigeria. And so if you look at the protests that have been going on, it’s all about ADC. If they want to unseat President Tinubu, Fine, it’s their legitimate right. But is that how to go about it?
“If you say they misinterpreted the pronouncement of the court, status quo ante bellum, lawyers have given different interpretations. They say maintain the status quo as it was before the crisis. What is the misinterpretation there? Don’t forget that the various political actors in ADC are in court for various reasons.
“The political persons you saw there left their various political parties and said that they are adopting ADC as their platform to unseat the president. So if you want to adopt a platform, do you go to take over the platform?,” he argued.
He noted that the ADC, rather than taking to the streets, should have followed due process and demonstrated its credibility as a better alternative.
