The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to key into the ground already prepared by President Muhammadu Buhari for free, fair, credible, safe and peaceful elections.
In a statement signed by its secretary general, Chief Willy Ezugwu, the CNPP urged the commission to ensure that its officials are not compromised in line with the level of neutrality demanded by President Buhari.
The CNPP was reacting to the reported arrest of a federal lawmaker with $498,100 on suspicion of attempted vote buying and money laundering.
The police also recovered a list of suspected beneficiaries of the money, including INEC headquarters in Rivers State.
According to the CNPP, “This arrest is just a tip of how politicians have planned to deploy illicit funds to compromise the electoral process.
“Since they have no access to the volume of cash to deploy for vote buying due to the naira redesign policy of the federal government being executed by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, these corrupt politicians are deploying foreign currencies to perpetrate their evil acts.
“We commend President Muhammadu Buhari, who set the template for credible 2023 elections and the CBN Governor who has followed through the presidential directives of the naira redesign policy aimed at reducing corruption and electoral fraud ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“We therefore call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to key into the anti-election rigging template of President Buhari administration and ensure that the will of the people was not subverted on Saturday.
“It’s time for INEC to demonstrate in reality that their officials have been trained to be neutral in the discharge of their electoral duties during the elections,” the CNPP stated.
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