The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has alleged there is a plot by President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to derail the September governorship poll in Osun state and the 2019 elections.
The coalition said part of the alleged plot is being carried out by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a statement on Friday, CUPP said the purported plot is the president’s “plan to decline assent” to the electoral act amendment bill as well as the suspending of the continuous voter registration exercise till after the elections.
The bill, among other things, seeks to make the use of card readers compulsory in elections as well as provide for an electronic transmission of result and accreditation.
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But the CUPP said the president plans to reject it because it “will cause the APC defeat in upcoming elections.”
The statement issued by Ikenga Ugochinyere, read: “We have it on good authority that a National leader of the APC working with the leadership of the APC before and after their APC NEC meeting yesterday and in the early hours of today have convinced the Buhari led APC government to reject signing the amended Electoral Act as it will open the road to defeating the APC especially in the upcoming Osun state gubernatorial election as the new amendments especially the mandatory use of card readers, electronic transmission of result and accreditation will give no room for massive rigging and manipulation of figures in 2019.
“The APC is scared of the amendment and currently pressuring Buhari to withhold assent and travel to China despite knowing the importance of signing the amendment as most of INEC 2019 preparation and budget are tied to some provisions in the yet to be signed law.”
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The coalition alleged that INEC is suspending the voter registration exercise till after 2019 elections “as part of a larger plot by the president and the ruling APC to deny angry and desperate Nigerians who have been turning out in their hundreds from having the opportunity to vote.
“We are therefore calling on all Nigerians of goodwill to demand that the President assents to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill before he embarks on yet another fruitless and wasteful journey at the expense of the suffering Nigerian masses and also demand that INEC continues the process of the Continuous Voter Registration so that many more Nigerians will not be disenfranchised,” it said.
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