The Inter Party Advisory Council, IPAC, says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s decision to deploy technology, including the BVAS and electronic transmission of result in the 2023 election is sacrosanct, final and irreversible.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Yabagi Sani, in Abuja on Friday, IPAC slammed those seeking the removal of top officials of the Commission who are insisting on the full use of technology in next year’s elections.
The Council should respect the country’s democracy and quit the effort to create a crisis of confidence in the electoral system.
It cautioned that any plot capable of unsettling INEC management at this crucial juncture, could derail the sanctity of the 2023 polls.
Sani said, “To us at IPAC, the deployment of technological devices, such as the BVAS and electronic transmission of results, is sacrosanct and an irreversible fait accompli.
“We are on the same page with INEC and all patriotic citizens who crave and are working towards having elections in which the votes of the electorate count.”
On violence and hate speech, the Council called on the nation’s security agencies and other relevant bodies to gear up in the performance of their statutory responsibilities professionally and objectively.
The statement added, “IPAC is similarly worried and saddened by the widely reported incidents of violent physical assaults visited on opposition parties by yet to be identified or, apprehended perpetrators.
“An outstanding case in point is the reported recent attack unleashed against members of the PDP during a rally of the party in Kaduna.
“We are fearful that, if the above unsavory happenings are a harbinger of what the nation will witness when the campaigns gain more steam or, during the elections proper, the country will be having anything but, free, fair, credible and acceptable elections in 2023.
“It is a sad and disconcerting fact that these agencies have so far, appeared complacent and complicit in the face of brazen breaches of the laws,”.