With just a month until the general elections kick off in Nigeria, Sixty-One (61) political parties under the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) have threatened to take the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to a Federal High Court in Abuja over clauses in the new electoral guidelines, which they deem harmful to the election’s credibility.
In a statement released on Sunday through Ikenga Ugochinyere, National Chairman of the Action Peoples Party (APP), and the National Secretary, IPAC, the parties under section 155 of the Electoral Act have the power to challenge INEC’s election guidelines in court.
According to the parties, the new guideline allegedly inserted by INEC, would provide leeway for easier rigging of the election in favour of the ruling, All Progressive Congress (APC) government.
This comes in a few days after both the CUPP and the IPAC jointly rejected the draft guidelines presented to them by INEC. The parties, according to the statement, were also set to pass a vote of no confidence in INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, if he goes through with the release of the guidelines today.
“The party chairmen are currently mobilizing more party leaders to move against the INEC chairman in the event that he goes ahead to issue out the guidelines without the input of the political parties and without removing the obnoxious clauses which will ruin free and fair election.”
The statement notes that “Ikenga Ugochinyere, APP; Dr. Sam Eke, GPN; Nsehe Nsobong, RP Party and Barr. Kenneth Udeze, AA, will be seeking an exparte application for an injunction to restrain INEC Chairman from going ahead with Monday’s planned release of the controversial guidelines which majority of the nation’s political parties (over 61) have rejected over non-consultation, obnoxious clauses and violation of the constitution.”
“The chairmen of the political parties still insist that the only way to have free and fair election is for those obnoxious clauses contained in the guidelines which does not promote free and fair elections to be expunged and that the INEC chairmen summons an emergency meeting with political parties chairmen to finally address the grey areas contained in the guidelines to avoid the 2019 election running into a hitch and credibility crisis, even before the day of election.”
“The demand of party chairmen is for INEC to continue the separate accreditation and separate voting system and ensure that at the end of accreditation across the country on election day, INEC polling unit staff first announce the total polling unit accredited figures and sign and issue out to party agents at the polling unit before commencement of voting.”
“Other contentious issues are the flawed accreditation procedure which allows fake voters, whose names are not on the voters register, including people with fake PVC or voters not properly accredited, to vote.”
With today being the day the suit is to be filed, the country awaits further details from both the election umpire INEC and CUPP.
