Politics
Adamawa APC Suspends State Chairman
Twenty-five members of the State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa state, Monday, impeached the chairman of the party, Ibrahim Bilal.
The executive members cited gross abuse of power, corruption, dereliction of duty, embezzlement, among other 23 allegations levelled against the embattled Chairman.
The SEC members also unanimously endorsed the deputy chairman, Samaila Taddawus as acting chairman.
This is contained in a press statement issued by the members of the State Executive Committee in Yola, Adamawa state.
While accepting his appointment as the acting Chairman, Taddawua, vowed to reconcile aggrieved members and refocused the party towards achieving overwhelming victory in 2023.
While passing a vote of no confidence on the chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibrahim Bilal, the SEC members said, “We the undersigned members of the state executive committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State wish to pass a vote of no confidence on the chairman of Adamawa State chapter of APC, Ibrahim Bilal, over gross misconduct.
“Our resolve to take this line of action follows the failure of the chairman to respond to the allegations of gross misconduct leveled against him as provided for in the constitution.
“We view his failure to respond to the weighty allegations as acceptance of guilt.”
The statement explained that, “On the 26th August 2022, twenty five members of the state executive committee, issued a formal complaint to three executive officers of the party over constitutional violations which constitute gross misconduct in line with the spirit of fair hearing as provided by the constitution.
“The persons involved are the chairman of the party, Ibrahim Bilal, the secretary of the party, Mr. Raymond Chidama and the treasurer of the party Alh. Yahya Hammanjulde.
“They were given seven day grace to respond to the allegations which elapsed on 1st September 2022.
“The secretary and the treasurer duly responded and made convincing submissions and hence cleared their names.
“But as at this day, the chairman of the party refused to respond to the grave allegations in other to clear his name. He has even refused to come to Yola from his Abuja base where he has permanently relocated.
The statement further adds that, “As a result of this gross failure, we hereby resolved to invoke article 21.5 (vi) of the party’s constitution which vested us with the powers to pass a vote of no confidence on him this day of September 2022.”
Outlining their grievances against the party chairman, the committee states that, “The chairman has through dubious means deceived the aspirants of the party and collected huge sums of monies from them running into hundreds of millions of naira.
“The chairman sold many vehicles belonging to the party and did not remit a dime to the secretariat.
“The chairman has shrouded the finances of the secretariat in secrecy and has been running the affairs of the party like a personal investment with no checks and balances and without auditing since he came on board.
“The chairman has converted some properties of the secretariat into personal use.
“The chairman collected huge bribes from the PDP to subvert the recent gubernatorial primaries of APC.
“He is living in stupendous opulence beyond his legitimate earnings enabling him to have a number of choice properties in Yola and Abuja.
“The chairman vehemently refused to create the necessary avenue for aggrieved parties to reconcile after the conduct of party primaries.
“The chairman blatantly refused to congratulate the winner of the gubernatorial primaries of our great party, Sen. Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani on time without any justification even though some party executive have prodded and advised him to do so.
“The chairman bought an eight seater bus at the cost of N29 million without consultation or due approval of the Executives or any organ of the party as stipulated in the constitution.
“The chairman in a very shameful manner unbecoming of a person holding such important position, threw caution to the wind and physically assaulted former Kebbi state governor, His Excellency Saidu Nasamu Dakin Gari.
“We have lost confidence in his stewardship on account of his abysmal conduct, disrespect for laid down constitutional provision, and impudence.”
The committee said the embattled Chairman has also been involved in, “Anti party activities in total contravention of party’s constitutional instruments which he used to partake in sublime misconduct by urging the people of his constituency not to vote for the candidate of APC Adamawa north senatorial zone, Sen Ishaku Cliff Abbo but urged them to vote Dr. Abdullahi Belel, the candidate of NNPP through his verified Facebook handle.”
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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