A coalition of human rights group based in the South eastern part of Nigeria have accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of plotting to rig the presidential election.
The groups said the INEC was doing so in collusion with the presidency, who they said were actually engineering the plan.
The groups under the aegis of Southeast Based Coalition of Human Rights & Democracy Organizations (SBCHROS), which is a coalition of 22 human rights and democracy organizations said they “are not surprised at the eleventh hour postponement or shift for seven and fourteen days respectively of the scheduled Presidential/National Assembly and Governorship/State Assembly Elections in Nigeria.”
In a press sttement titled: “Sudden Shift In The Feb 16 Poll: Inec Has Unveiled One Of Its Rigging Plans With The Presidency,” and signed by its coordinator, Emeka Umeagbalasi of Intersociety and leaders of the 22 other groups, it said, “The shift in the date of the Presidential Election, in particular, was utterly done by INEC with sinister motives and in inescapable conspiracy of the present central Government of Nigeria.
“The sudden shift is inexcusable and goes beyond “logistical reasons”.
It said the sudden shift represents one of the many “embryonic rigging templates or plans of the Prof Mahmood Takubu led INEC”.
“What is happening to Prof Mahmood Yakubu and his administration of INEC since his appointment as INEC Chair on 21st October 2015 is a case of a compromised intellectual running a protracted ideological battle between “Fulani brotherhood and independence of INEC”; leading to chronic conflict of interest. INEC under Prof Yakubu remains thousands of miles away from being independent or unbiased electoral umpire.”
It said the shift in date would eventually disenfranchise millions of Nigerians who travelled to their home towns with the hope to vote, and may not be willing to do so on the rescheduled date.
“Another is a Senatorial Candidate, Mr. Mohammed Sani Musa and his company Activate Technologies Ltd which was given the contract to produce PVCs. The present INEC leadership may have been involved in gross manipulation of the country’s National Register of Voters or electoral demographic database,” the groups said.
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