THE Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), a body for all political parties in Nigeria, says it has uncovered a suit to stop the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine for the 2023 general elections.
The coalition spokesperson, Ikenga Ugochinyere, who disclosed this at a press conference today, said the suit was filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), at the Federal High Court, Owerri, in August this year.
Without mentioning the plaintiff, Ugochinyere said the suit was on a secret report by the Nigerian Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
He added that CUPP had also uncovered a plot to remove the INEC chairman, Mahmud Yakubu, from office should he fail to stop the use of BVAS.
“The intelligence CUPP intercepted, which has led to the discovery of the suit filed seeking to nullify the BVAS and exposure of the massive compromise in the voters register, cannot be wrong now that the third leg of the plot is to sack the INEC Chairman through suspension as the plotters know they cannot get the required numbers from the National Assembly for an outright sack.
“Prof Mahmood Yakubu is under pressure to announce a change to the Commission’s hard stands on the compulsory use of the BVAS machine for accreditation, or get sacked as Chairman of the Commission.”
CUPP called on international partners, local and international observer groups, civil society and the general public to “help it and protect democracy as the success of any of these plots will erode the integrity and credibility of the electoral process and deny Nigerians the sovereign right to choose their leaders freely.”
Several calls to the INEC’s spokesperson, Festus Okoye, to clarify INEC’s position on the allegations were not answered.