The Imo Coalition for Justice, Peace and True Democracy (ICJPTD) on Thursday dismissed allegation of compromise of the register of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The spokesman of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere levelled the allegation against Imo state governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, the INEC and its Chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu.
The spokesman of the ICJPTD,, Ahumaraeze Ikechukwu described the allegation as false, unfounded, malicious and challenged the CUPP spokesperson to produce document on the compromise of the electoral register, falsification and upload of the commission registration.
Speaking at a news conference in Owerri, the Imo State capital, Ikechukwu equally challenged the CUPP and its spokesperson, Ikenga Ugochinyere Imo, who is the Peoples Democratic Party,(PDP) candidate for Ideato North and South Federal Constituency to produce a copy of the said action against INEC chairman, Prof. Yakubu.
He reminded Ugochinyere that popularity is not gotten by ranting and making of false claims as well as spreading false information, urging him to concentrate on his political ambition.
Ikechukwu said;”It’s no secret that Omuma houses the Imo State Polytechnic, an institution open to both indigenous residents of the state and all residents of the state, that is to say the population of the area has increased since the relocation of that institution to Omuma.
“Also, Section 42 of the Electoral Act mandates INEC to establish sufficient number of polling units in each registration area and allot voters to such polling units.
” We want to quickly remind Ugochinyere that on the 12th day of September 2022, INEC released a press release signed by Festus Okoye ESQ, the National Commissioner Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee tagged” update on cleaning up of new registrations” where it explained that the Automated Biometric Identification System ( ABIS) for 15th January to 31st July 2022 is almost completed, noting that “several double , multiple and ineligible registrants have been detected and invalidated.
“These include entries that fail to meet the Commission’s business rules. The Commission takes this responsibility seriously because a credible register is at the heart electoral integrity.
“According to him , INEC will display the voter register once the process is concluded. Therefore, valid registrants will be added to the existing national register of voters before publishing same nationwide for scrutiny, claims and objections by citizens as required by section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2022”.
