2023 presidential election: You can’t review yourself – CUPP to INEC

The Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, has rubbished the planned self-review by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, over the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.

CUPP called on INEC to set up an open independent public inquiry on the glitches that the commission claimed undermined the integrity of the 2023 presidential election if they were serious about integrity.

In a statement signed by High Chief Peter Ojonugwa Ameh, the National Secretary of CUPP, and made available to media houses in Abuja on Wednesday, the united political parties said that suspicion and lack of public confidence in the election is so overwhelming.

CUPP pointed out that the INEC review will not elucidate the public trust needed to either justify what happened or uncover the fraudsters within the commission that deliberately thwarted the process by which Nigerians could have established a credible election process.

“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.

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“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 can not review itself without the elements of biased 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 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.”