Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), spoke in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune on issues surrounding the amended Electoral Act, the party’s digital membership registration, and coalition efforts.
When asked if the party suspected anyone of being responsible for the spam registrations on its portal, Bolaji Abdullahi alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was responsible.
He claimed the APC had begun its digitalised membership registration process as far back as February of the previous year. According to him, while it might appear to some people that the ruling party simply had foresight, he believed it was actually due to insider knowledge about the planned changes in the electoral law.
He said, “And that’s why they started from last year. So, it has taken them one year. And despite that they have one year, we still found that Adolf Hitler has registered in their party (APC). Bello Turji, the renowned bandit, has registered for their party. But more importantly is what I am about to tell you. We now have to go back and recalibrate and introduce compulsory NIN in our registration process.”
When asked about the implications of the new requirement, Bolaji Abdullahi alleged that the government already had access to extensive personal data of Nigerians through the National Identification Number database.
He claimed that because the government possessed citizens’ phone numbers, addresses and photographs linked to the NIN system, it could potentially track voters and target them individually. According to him, this could allow authorities to identify voters by polling units and direct political messages to them. Abdullahi alleged that the arrangement formed part of what he described as an elaborate scheme to manipulate the electoral process. See More