Opposition political parties in Nigeria, CSOs and ethnic youth leaders have raised the alarm over the discovery of a plot allegedly hatched by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to force the National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stop electronic transmission of 2023 election results and deactivate the Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) from the INEC server during the 2023 general election.

The opposition parties, civil society groups, ethnic groups, etc., at a joint Press Conference held in Abuja on Wednesday alleged that there was immense pressure on the leadership of INEC to deactivate the BIVAS from the server, which pressure has been resisted by INEC hence the plot by the ruling party’s agents led by some Governors to commence the plot to cause a leadership change in the electoral management body which will consume top officials, including the Chairman and few National Commissioners who were still insisting on the use of the BIVAS.

At the meeting which had in attendance Labour Party, PDP, AA, ADC, APP, and other registered and deregistered political parties, the Coalition also resolved to petition the United Kingdom High Commission and the United States Embassy to alert them of the alleged new conspiracy which threatens the Nigerian electoral process and regional stability and urge them to ensure, as development partners, that there was adequate vigilance and support for the right things to be done in compliance with extant laws." They said that the international community should also put pressure to ensure that those plotting to ruffle the electoral process back pedal.

They also resolved to immediately approach the Court to seek judicial redress to ensure the electoral process was not derailed. The suit, when filed, will restrain the Federal Government, DSS, Nigeria Police, National Assembly, ICPC, CCB, EFCC, CCT, and Attorney-General of the Federation, from stopping the use of BIVAS, deactivating BIVAS from the INEC Server, removing of the INEC Chairman, arresting or using an exparte injunction to suspend him, suspending him from office under any guise or any form of detention with the intention to remove him from acting as INEC Chairman.

National Chairmen of registered and deregistered political parties, the opposition coalition CUPP, and Civil Society groups numbering over 50, along with hundreds of their members, attended the press briefing, which had in attendance, leading National Chairmen and representatives of Opposition parties and chieftains from Labour party, AA, PDP, ADC, APP, High Chief Peter Ameh, Opposition Coalition Spokesperson Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, Alhaji Turaki, Barr. Kenneth Udeze, former Reps member Geff Ojinika, Hon. Abu Mustapha and others.

It would be recalled that CUPP had, a few weeks ago, also uncovered an alleged compromise of the voters' registration exercise in some APC-controlled states in a secret, illegal operation code-named “Omuma magic,” which the opposition insisted that those behind the mafia operation should be arrested and prosecuted.

The BIVAS is an electronic machine that will be used to electronically accredit all voters for the 2023 general election and also be used to transmit election results from the Polling Units direct to the INEC central server. The BVAS had been deployed in the last three cycle Governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti, and Osun states and has been observed to have generally improved the credibility of the elections as the perennial problems associated with snatching of result sheets and changing of results at collation centers have been curbed.

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