From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has alleged that corrupt politicians bent on rigging next month’s poll claiming were behind plot to remove INEC chairman.
A suit No: FCT/HC/GAR/CV/47/2022, at the High Court, Abuja, by Somadike Uzoabaka against the Attorney General of the Federation and Professor Mahmood Yakubu, sought an order of mandatory injunction directing Yakubu to step down for allegedly failing to declare his assets at the Code of Conduct Bureau as required by law.
But Justice Maryam Hassan squashed the allegations of false assets declaration and stopped security agents from investigating the INEC boss.
National Secretary of IPAC, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, at a press briefing, yesterday, in Abuja, passed a vote of confidence on the electoral umpire chairman and Justice Hassan saying some politicians were displeased with INEC’s arrangements towards conducting a credible poll, especially its deployment of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and verification of the authenticity of the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVCs) for this year’s polls.
He also flayed the incessant attacks on the commission’s offices in Zamfara, Imo, Ebonyi, Ogun, Osun, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Jigawa, FCT, Ondo, Abia states, resulting in the destruction of PVCs, ballot boxes, voting cubicles, megaphones, generators, election bags, water storage tanks among others.
He said IPAC had to call on an emergency meeting of its General Assembly to deliberate on crucial national issues and evaluate emerging threats to the 2023 general election, particularly the grand plots by anti- democratic forces to remove INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu from office on frivolous allegations of false assets declaration few weeks to the general election.
“INEC’s position on deployment of technology in the conduct of the 2023 general election is in tandem with the stance of IPAC. Accordingly, the entire political Chairmen under the umbrella of Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) reaffirms its confidence in the INEC led by Professor Mahmood Yakubu to conduct the 2023 general election.
“IPAC is satisfied with the preparations, arrangements and measures taken so far by the commission to conduct free, fair, credible and transparent, inclusive, peaceful and generally acceptable elections, particularly its decision to deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), an electronic device designed to read permanent voter cards and authenticate voters using the voters’ fingerprints.
“It is this improved technology in the conduct of elections that triggered attacks on INEC facilities and grand plots to remove its chairman few weeks to the Presidential and National Assembly elections slated for 25th February 2023, by those who benefited from grossly flawed elections and want to maintain the status quo that impeded the nation’s democracy and impoverished the populace.
“We are deeply concern about the level of insecurity in the country spreading in most of the states, where the governors are using sponsored taut to stop and destroy campaign materials and the party offices of the opposition political parties in their respective states while the security agencies are helpless despite the assurances from the IGP, DG, SSS, NIA assuring all parties, and warning the governors from destroying and stopping the activities of the party candidates.”