*Says there’s total lost of public confidence on commission
By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), an umbrella of opposition, has slammed the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmud Yakubu, following his admittance that there were glitches in the course of the 2023 general elections
CUPP expressed this in a statement signed by its
National Secretary, High Chief Peter Ojonugwa Ameh, made available to our correspondent on Wednesday July 26, 2023.
“It is obvious and noticeable how Mahmud is running up and down in an attempt to try to repair the battered image of the commission and by extension his reputation as well.
“There is total lost of public confidence in the commission so therefore, if the commission goes ahead to conduct a self examination through a non transparent process of reviewing the elections,” the statement said.
CUPP warned that if the commission continues with the purported self review process, then it will amount to nothing in the eyes of the general public.
“The commission cannot review itself without the elements of biase, so if Yakubu Mahmoud is interested in reviewing the 2023 general election, the right thing to do is to set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate and examine the unverifiable claims of the commission that there was a glitch, their terms of reference should include but not limited to the following;
* Make known to the public the Nature of the glitch and what caused it.
* Names of those in charge as at the time it occurred.
We need to know that this was not a deliberate attempt by members of the commission to undermine the integrity of our election by subverting the right of the people to vote and elect theirs leaders through a free, fair and credible process,” CUPP said.
According to the statement titled, “INEC planned purported review is an obvious attempt by the commission to hide behind one finger” CUPP explained that if the commission is truly concerned about credibility, then setting an open independent public inquiry on the glitches that the commission claimed undermined the integrity of 2023 Presidential election is the best way to go.
“The suspicion and lack of public confidence in the election is so overwhelming that INEC review will not elicit the kind of public trust needed to either justify what happened or uncover the fraudsters within the commission that deliberately thwarted the process by which Nigerians could have established a credible election process,” the statement pointed out.
