A human rights organisation under the aegis of Centre for Transparency Advocacy has raised concern over the request by the Inter-Party Advisory Council to shift the deadline for political parties to conduct primaries, describing it as misplaced.
The organisation said Nigerians were depending on the Independent National Electoral Commission to institutionalise credible electoral process that would lead the country as a progressive society.
“Therefore, the tantrum drums that some political parties are playing, just when preparations towards the 2023 general election is full speed, is not only a distraction to INEC but a calculated attempt to clog the wheel of progress and the incremental successes recorded by INEC in recent times,” CTA said in a statement issued on Monday night by its Executive Director, Faith Nwadishi.
He said, “It is the view of CTA that IPAC should rather explore positively the recognised bond between it and the EMB rather than exploiting the goodwill extended by INEC and the Nigerian people to selfish ends.”
To deepen its request, IPAC further said, “In summary, the General Assembly of IPAC, after an exhaustive examination of the INEC timetable and related issues, arrived at a unanimous decision to request an extension of thirty-seven (37) days to the deadline of the time frame for the conduct of party primaries and resolution of conflicts arising from the primaries.
“By implication, the IPAC leadership is appealing to INEC to extend the deadline for the conduct of party primaries and resolution of ensuing conflicts from the present INEC given date of 3rd June 2022 to the 4th of August 2022.”
The CTA restated that this call was uncalled for, diversionary and not in the interest of democracy.
“The CTA and other well-meaning Nigerians are gratified by the response of INEC through its Chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, who in clear terms refused to accede to the toxic request by IPAC. He in clear terms said, “twice in the last two weeks, the Commission had cause to remind political parties of the necessity for strict compliance with the timelines for party primaries.
“We hereby reiterate the position of the commission that there will be no review of the timelines. There are so many inter-related activities that are associated with the timelines which must be carried out. Any review to extend the timeline for one activity will affect other activities and put unnecessary pressure on political parties and the commission.
“This will ultimately result in more complications than what the extension seeks to achieve. Therefore, the commission will not review the timelines. Working together, we should ensure fidelity to the timelines in conducting transparent and democratic primaries for the purpose of electing candidates for the 1,491 constituencies for which elections will be held on 25th February and 11th March 2023.”
“The CTA shares in the views expressed by the INEC Chairman in turning down the request that any review to extend the timeline for one activity will affect other activities and put unnecessary pressure on political parties and the commission.
“Equally, the CTA is pleased with some of the bold steps already taken by the EMB towards achieving a credible electoral process leading to transparent, free, fair, and peaceful election. The CTA calls on the political parties to heed to the guidelines under the electoral act and the same level of commitment towards a credible poll.”
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