TRACKING>>The Buhari Campaign Organisation (BCO) has alleged that the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the 2019 elections saved the country from massive rigging plotted by the opposition.
The president’s support group stated this in reaction to claims made on Saturday by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) of an alleged plan by President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and replace him with Amina Zakari as acting chairman under the guise of the commission’s inability to conduct the presidential and National Assembly elections.
But in a counter statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Communications and Strategic Planning, Mallam Gidado Ibrahim, the BCO said the reverse was the case, as INEC deliberately shifted the polls to thwart the plan by the opposition to rig the elections.
The group noted that the alarm raised by CUPP over plans to remove INEC chairman was a perfect plan to cover up for the massive rigging plotted by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which left the electoral body with no other option than to postpone the elections.
Ibrahim said, “The attention of the BCO has been drawn to a statement by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) in which it accused President Muhammadu Buhari of trying to sack INEC chairman. This came few hours after the Presidency had issued a stament expressing the president’s disappointment with the postponement of the elections.
“The basis for the claims made by CUPP is that President Buhari, like every other Nigerian, expressed misgivings about the election shift. The truth, however, is that the opposition, with its shrill voice, is merely diverting attention from the revelation that they had perfected plans to rig the polls using huge sums of money, which they distributed on the eve of the postponed elections.
“Based on intelligence report that money had been shared by the opposition on the eve of the polls to buy voters, INEC decided to shift the elections to save the country from the sinister plot by the opposition to wield the country back to the dark days of rigging and manipulation of the electoral process to rob Nigerians of their right to decide who becomes their leader”.
The BCO further appealed to Nigerians to be patient with INEC, saying the commission’s decision to shift the elections was taken to save democracy from the fangs of corrupt politicians in the opposition who think elections in Nigeria can never be free, fair and credible.
“We also urge Nigerians to be steadfast and watch out against corrupt political elements in the opposition who are bent on manipulating the electoral process in a desperate bid to return to power at all cost to continue their looting spree. INEC took the decision of shifting the polls in good faith and we in the BCO are solidly behind the electoral body. President Buhari has assured severally that he will ensure the same free and fair process that brought him to power, and this he will surely do”, Ibrahim added.
