By Ezeocha Nzeh
The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), has warned against the plot by a section of the political class to initiate a plot to remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with barely four months to the 2023 general elections
The CUPP warning is coming amidst criticism from some Arewa groups, accusing Professor and the commission of compromising in its activities leading to the conduct of the election
The Arewa Citizens’ Watch for Good Governance (ACWGG) in that petition dated October 18 and signed by its Chairman, Muhammed Grema Adamu alleged that, the INEC boss and his team have compromised the voters register, alleging inflation of votes in southern Nigeria as well as suppressed same in the northern part of the country
The Arewa group which had already petitioned the National assembly, European Union and other relevant agencies, therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhri and the National Assembly to investigate the allegarion so as o save 56the country from an a looming embarrassment ha could trail the 2023 elecio
“The Arewa Citizens Watch for Good Governance, a network of numerous pressure groups in Northern part of Nigeria is aware of the allegations against the INEC Chairman and his team, wherein, they have been accused by Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) of committing “Electoral Treason” in the recently concluded, even though, controversial Continuous voters registration.
“On 15th of September, 2022 one Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere Michael, the Spokesperson of the CUPP addressed a world press titled “Omuma Magic” wherein, he alleged that 15,000 Foreign names were registered in the rural village of the Governor of Imo State.” the petition stated in part
Rejecting the Arewa group’s call for the suspension of the INEC boss, CUPP accused some senators loyal to some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors of being the plot to ensure the removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, ahead of the 2023 general election.
CUPP in a statement Sunday in Abuja by its spokesman, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, recalled that the opposition coalition, last month, uncovered the conspiracy through a reliable intelligence.
The opposition group noted that politicians who are afraid of INEC’s insistence that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has come to stay ahead of the 2023 election were moving against Yakubu
CUPP spokes person, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere said that the conspiracy to use the Senate to shake Yakubu so that he could jettison the use of BVAS will lead to electoral crisis and will be vehemently resisted by the opposition parties and CSOs.
“INEC Chairman at different fora had reiterated that the Commission will ensure a free and fair election, and the only way to do that is through the use of BVAS and E-transmission of Election Results. CUPP last month in a joint press conference in Abuja made Nigerians know of the intercepted intelligence of a fresh plot against the 2023 election and this time being coordinated by leading figures of the ruling APC Party, APC Governors led by a South East APC Governor with controversial past and another from the North West who are working with their colleagues to perfect a plot to intimidate INEC leadership.
“Though it’s not surprising, it’s really sad that the parliament which is the last hope of the common man is actually considering to go ahead with this evil plot, just because the APC is scared of loosing election come 2023. We therefore call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call his governors and lawmakers to order so that they don’t truncate the nation’s democracy under his watch. Any further actions in this direction will be playing with fire and a direct affront and challenge to Nigerian voters. We have already gone to the USA, UK, and other foreign embassies to submit petitions and alert them of the alleged new conspiracy. We repeat! any plan to remove Prof. Mahmud Yakubu and top officials of INEC will not be accepted.” the statement concluded.
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He Arewa group further alleged that scanned passports photos and burial pictures were used to register voters in most Local Government Areas in Imo State. He rhetorically asked how comes people had access to INEC system to enable them scan and upload passports?
“While INEC was busy scanning passports and burial pictures and inventing biometrics for voters registration in Southern part of the country; they however rejected the pleas of our sister groups to give special consideration in our region, following the shutting down of telecommunications networks that led to suspension of the CVR for four weeks.
“All the allegations levelled against the commission are yet to be falsified, neither has the commission compensated the Northern region for the time lost during the CVR.
“We are worried that, the election umpires are morally compromised to deliver on the onerous task, which holds the key to our national unity and stability. We are afraid that the outcome of the 2023 election won’t be acceptable by all Nigerians, due to the negative perception most Nigerians holds against the commission”.
