2023: Group Unveils Plots To Remove INEC Chairman, Compromise BVAS

A body of political parties in Nigeria has raised the alarm over an alleged plot to remove INEC Chairman, Mahmud Yakubu, before the 2023 general elections.

 

Newsonline reports that a plot to remove the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, is being hatched by top political actors in the country.

Also: INEC Speaks On Deleted 2.7 Million Registrations, Raises Concerns About Security Challenges

 

It was also gathered that plans are on to compromise the Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine during the elections.

 

Top politicians and persons close to the seat of power in Abuja are said to be firming up the plot as a last-ditch plan should the INEC chairman fails to accede to their demands regarding the conduct of the elections, Daily Trust reports.

 

The CUPP spokesperson Ikenga Ugochinyere, who raised the alarm at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, also said there were plans to compromise the Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine during the elections.

 

He noted that plans had been concluded on deactivating the BVAS from its server. Ugochinyere also alleged that INEC will be pressured not to transmit the results of the 2023 polls electronically.

 

However, he warned that the opposition parties will resist any attempt to conduct the 2023 general elections without BVAS and electronic transmission of results.

 

According to him, the opposition parties would also be heading to court over the issue, and also petition the international community about the alleged conspiracy to compromise the election.

 

“As parties, we say that arrest and public shaming of the perpetrators and their collaborators who perpetrated the voter registration fraud is non-negotiable,” he said

 

“No matter the atmosphere, no matter who is involved, as leaders of the country’s political process and platforms, we have an equal stake and can’t be intimidated into silence.

 

“We will continue to act within the ambit of the law, but we are not going to run away or surrender to those who want to destroy what they did not build and what does not belong to them. We are ready for the election and will keep vigilance and not allow our electoral process to be derailed.”

 

This online media platform reliably gathered that BVAS, introduced by INEC to replace the smart card reader used in the 2019 elections, is a biometric system that recognises voters based on their fingerprints or faces.