A forum of chairmen of 55 political parties have kicked against call by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to resign over statement on the efficacy of the smart Card Readers by two INEC Commissioners.
The Chairman of the National Unity Party (NUP) who doubles as Chairman of the Forum, Chief Perry Opara, in a statement on Sunday said the PDP cannot be crying wolf when it earlier celebrated the judgements which described the Card Readers as victory for democracy.
Opara said the PDP should enjoin its members in the National Assembly to lead the agitation for legislative electoral reform and stop playing to the gallery.
He said the Smart Card Reader’s efficacy had been politically and judicially neutralized, arguing this was largely done by members of the PDP who argued before the Supreme Court against its relevance in relation to the Voter Register.
The chairmen argued that the PDP failed to reform the electoral system during its 16 years in power and should therefore cover its face in shame.
“The position of the Supreme Court which for now is the law makes the Voter Register the final proof of the accreditation of voters. Hence, making the record of the Card Reader inadmissible in Court as proof of accreditation.
“The meaning of this is that even when only a few people turn out at 3 Polling Unit on election day, thugs can hijack the materials, record humongous figures and are only required to tick the Voter Register and they are home and dry. PDP celebrated this position of the Supreme Court and should just keep quiet for now.
“We call on all Nigerians to lend their voice and put pressure on their representatives in both Chambers of the National Assembly to urgently pass the Electoral Act Amendment Bill so that we can have Electronic transmission of votes, electronic transmission of accreditation figures from the Card Reader and possibly electronic voting so that thugs will not have a role in our electoral system since our security agencies have failed woefully to stop them from their unpatriotic trade,” they said.
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