Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

News

CUPP Dares INEC, Asks Opposition Parties to Resume Campaign for Atiku

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) on Sunday asked member parties to shun the directive by the Independent National Electoral Commission and resume campaigns ahead of the Saturday’s presidential election.

Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, had during an interactive session with stakeholders in Abuja on Saturday said political parties could not resume campaigns despite the postponement of the presidential election earlier scheduled for February.

Answering a question raised by a former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, who represented the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party at the session, Yakubu had said since campaign for the election ended last Thursday, parties could not resume campaign again.

But CUPP, in a statement by its national spokesman, Imo Ugochinyere, on Sunday said Yakubu’s position was unconstitutional. Ugochinyere said the nation’s Electoral Act stipulated that shall end 24 hours prior to the day of election.

He argued that since the presidential election had been shifted to Saturday, political parties are at liberty to resume campaign till midnight on Thursday.

He, therefore, asked member parties to resume campaigns from Sunday and mobilise voters for the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

The statement read, “In view of the provisions of the Section 99 of the Electoral Act, the over 51 member parties of the Coalition of United Political Parties hereby direct all members to return to the campaigns fields and recommence campaigns and end by midnight of Thursday, February 21, 2019 as required by law.

“Section 99(1) of the Electoral Act provides that public campaigns shall end 24 hours prior to the day of polling. “It is, therefore, wrong to expect that political parties will stop campaigns on February 14 for polls that will open on February 23. “It is unlawful and statutorily wrong to curtail the clear intendment of this section of the Electoral Act which is clear and unambiguous.

“Campaigning until 24 hours prior to the day of polling is a statutory right of parties and cannot be taken away, curtailed or abridged by any executive fiat. “INEC cannot, on its own accord, limit the period of campaigns as it is regulated by law. “Member parties are hereby directed to continue campaigns from today (Sunday) and focus on voter remobilisation and ensure that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is elected and declared winner of the presidential election.”

 

 

________

Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng

Copyright 2019 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant source.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Related

News

A total of 4,613,291 Nigerians who have collected their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) are expected to participate in today’s by-elections to replace members who...

News

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticized the recent decision by the Federal Government, led by President Bola Tinubu, to instruct the Central Bank...

News

The Presidency on Tuesday night described the statement of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar berating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the failure to resolve...

News

Daniel Bwala, then spokesman for Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 2023 presidential poll, says he informed...

Copyright ©