A rights group, International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, otherwise known as Intersociety has said that the postponement of the election cannot guarantee a credible one except certain things were done, both by INEC, and the contesting political parties.
In a press statement signed by its Chairman, Board of Trustees, Cojmrade Emeka Umeagbalasi and made available to our correspondent in Awka, the group stated among others that INCE must disclose a state-by-state breakdown of the over 1million registered voters which it labeled double registrant.
The group said Nigerians would like to know if the so called double registrants are real or just victims of INEC’s data loss or if there is specified plot to disenfranchise them through ethno-religious demographic data manipulation which it said is targeted at a particular zone in the country.
It also said, “In view of the security challenges in the North east which the chairman of INEC acknowledged, he should explain to Nigerians how it came about a distribution of a whooping 6.7million PVCs in the zone.
“For the election to be adjudged credible and impartial, INEC must hastily, aggressively and speedily distribute the remaining 23,003,668 voters cards, especially in the south and also take delivery of the remaining un-produced 2.8million cards.”
The group urged INEC to clarify the reason for the creation of the special polling booths for red spots in the northeast as well as the legal basis for his action.
Security agencies were also urged to ensure that they do all to meet the deadline for the election to avoid another shift in the date. They stated that any further shift will put election in dispute with the 2011 amended constitution which stated that election must be held on or before 30 days to the expiration of the present tenure.
