At a press conference addressed by its spokesman, Ikenga Ugochinyere, the group stated that plans had been perfected by some desperate Nigerians to create a confidence crisis hinged on trumped-up charges to instigate removal of top officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who are insisting on the use of the BVAS for the 2023 elections and the “irreversible” electronic transmission of results.
CUPP also claimed to have “intercepted intelligence of an alleged fresh plot against the 2023 elections being coordinated by some governors, led by a South-East state chief executive with controversial past and another from the North-West, who are working with their colleagues to perfect a plot to intimidate INEC leadership into abandoning the electronic transmission and uploading of election results to the INEC server, deactivation of the BVAS machine from INEC server and creation of crisis of confidence based on trumped-up charges that will lead to the removal of top officials of the commission, including the INEC chairman and other National Commissioners, who are insisting on the use of the BIVAS for the 2023 elections and the irreversible electronic transmission of the results.”
The body continued: “ The plot to cause a leadership change in the Commission’s top hierarchy and cause a sweeping change with less than 140 days to the elections is a no-go area. The political parties in the country will not accept it. Our institution can’t be destroyed for one man’s quest or a group of people to keep what was hijacked from the people.”
It vowed to reject any plan to stop electronic transmission of results and mobilisation of BVAS to engender credibility in the entire election management process.
“We will not accept or agree for any election to be conducted without electronic transmission of results. We will resist any person or plot to deactivate the BVAS from the INEC server, we will resist any hurriedly or arranged plot to force, blackmail, use trumped-up charges, cooked-up security report or any method to force the INEC Chairman or any of his Commissioners out of office. Know it today, opposition and political party leaders and Nigerian voters are aware and ready to defend the electoral process,” CUPP stated.
