We have No APC Is Registered, INEC Boss - Jega

The controversy trailing the purported application for registration of three political parties with the APC acronym appeared to have been resolved yesterday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega. He said no party with the acronym had been registered.

Three potential parties -- All Progressive Congress (APC), African People's Congress (APC) and All Patriotic Citizens (APC) -- are at the centre of the saga.

Prof. Jega said in Kaduna yesterday that since INEC had not registered any group with the APC acronym, the current controversy was unwarranted.

He also cleared the air on speculations that the commission was frustrating the main opposition parties in the country from using the name APC and merging into one party to challenge the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 general elections.

Prof. Jega maintained that there were procedures to be followed for the registration of political parties, and whichever group that meets the guidelines would be registered at the appropriate time.

He made the clarifications shortly after '2Hannu Dayawa', a live phone-in programme on Radio Nigeria, Kaduna.

The INEC boss said that the All Progressive Congress officially notified the commission of their intention to merge into one political party about five or six days ago, adding that, despite the controversy that had trailed the purported registration of another APC, the commission was yet to do so.