Collation of United Political Parties on Friday said that the Independent National Electoral Commission had no reason not to deliver a credible election in 2023 with the signing of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law by the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)
The spokesperson for CUPP, Ugochinyere Imo, while addressing journalists in Owerri, Imo state, shortly after the president appended his signature to the bill, said that if INEC delivers on its constitutional mandate in 2023 politicians who rely on rigging elections would be “disgraced.”
He said that Buhari had shown patriotism and defended his oath of office by signing the bill into law after much pressure.
He noted that the signing of the bill had wide implications for the democratic system of the country.
Ugochinyere submitted that the law which provides for electronic accreditation of voters and transmission of election results, would solve previous legal issues that had arisen in that regard.
He identified provision for early release of funds for elections and conclusion of party’s primaries six months before polls as another milestone achieved by the law.
“Granting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the power to review already declared election results, as well as affirming that number of accredited voters should be used to determine over-voting in an election, are among the provisions of the law.”
He maintained that with such provisions, days are gone when a candidate would do everything to be declared winner by all means, by electoral officers, because the umpire was not permitted to reverse itself.
He however, insisted that Nigerians should not relent in ensuring that the provisions of the law were implemented and that security agencies allow for free and fair polls.
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