The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has condemned some politicians’ antics and smear campaigns against the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in an attempt to put pressure on the Commission to deactivate the BVAS machine.
The Council also voted to support INEC’s leadership, particularly the use of the BVAS machine and electronic transmission of results in the 2023 elections.
Engr. Yabagi Yusuf Sani, National Chairman of IPAC, stated this during the council’s meeting with INEC management on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to the IPAC evaluation, INEC has been on track, and those desperate to tamper with the elections will fail.
He said; “on the basis of our evaluation that INEC has been well on track, the leadership of IPAC additionally, wishes to use this occasion to condemn the emerging antics and smear campaign by certain shadowy and cowardly figures who ere clearly embarked on the treacherous and unpatriotic conspiracy of reversing the outstanding landmarks, the INEC has recorded in recent years in the annals of the nation’s electoral history.
“To us in IPAC, the real object of the darts of venom being directed at the person of the Chairman and the institution of the INEC are merely a decoy. The real target of the machinations is the circumvention of the deployment of the Biomodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, the Electronic Transfer of results and the other security devices INEC has deftly and painstakingly put in place to enhance the integrity of the electoral process.
“The spurious allegations they are orchestrating especially in the online platforms are part of the strategies to prepare the grounds for their planned onslaught to achieve their nefarious goal within legal frameworks. it is also aimed at blackmailing and intimidating Professor Mahmoud Yakubu to surrender by compromising the Commission’s stance on the strident, airtight security measures against the maladies of rigging and other electoral malpractices that had perennially tarnished the integrity of elections in the country in the past.
“However, we believe they will not have their way no matter their desperation and their pranks and machinations. The use of technology in the conduct of elections in Nigeria has become sacrosanct and fait accompli. Every player in the country’s power game must come to terms with the new reality that, they can no longer rig elections brazenly and with impunity.
“Mr. Chairman Sir, you can count on the usual support of IPAC, and as it is, the goodwill and backing of most citizens of the country in the present circumstance. We urge you to remain steadfast and strong in the consciousness that, you have your hard-earned reputation to protect; that the eyes of the entire nation and indeed, the wider global community are keenly focused on you.
“At the end of the day, your choice on the issues currently at stake, will go far in defining your legacy, long after our generation. In other words, history beckons on you. May the Almighty God guide and provide you with the needed strength and wisdom to wither the storm.”