The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s proposed self-review of the results of the 2023 presidential election has been rejected by political parties that fall under the coalition known as the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP).
News About Nigeria gathered that, the CUPP requested that INEC establish an open, unbiased public probe into the errors that the commission claimed compromised the election’s integrity in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The National Secretary of CUPP, High Chief Peter Ojonugwa Ameh, issued a statement that said the INEC review would not be credible and would not reestablish public faith in the electoral process.
According to CUPP, the independent probe should look into the kinds of errors that happened during the election as well as who was in control at the time.
“We need to know that this was not a deliberate attempt by members of the commission to undermine the integrity of our election,” the statement said.
The statement says:
“It is obvious and noticeable how Mahmood is running up and down in an attempt to try to repair the battered image of the commission and, by extension, his reputation as well,” the statement said.
“There is a total loss of public confidence in the commission, so therefore, if the commission goes ahead to conduct a self-examination through a non-transparent process of reviewing the elections.
“If the commission continues with the purported self-review process, then it will amount to nothing in the eyes of the general public.
“The commission cannot review itself without the elements of bias, so if Yakubu Mahmood is interested in reviewing the 2023 general election, the right thing to do is to set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate and examine the unverifiable claims of the commission that there was a glitch.
“Their terms of reference should include, but not be limited to, the following; Make known to the public the Nature of the glitch and what caused it. Names of those in charge as at the time it occurred.
“We need to know that this was not a deliberate attempt by members of the commission to undermine the integrity of our election by subverting the right of the people to vote and elect their leaders through a free, fair, and credible process.”
