CSO’s coaltion raises alarm over alleged rigging plot

A Coalition of civil society organizations in the South East is alleging that it has discovered a rigging plot by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2023 general election.

The group which comprises different civil society groups under the aegis of the International Society for civil liberty made this known in Enugu.

With barely 2 months to the 2023 general election, a series of incidents have happened to test the readiness of the electoral umpire.

This is happening at a time candidates vying for political offices are campaigning across the country.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has over time affirmed it’s the readiness to conduct a free and credible election in 2023, likewise president Muhammadu Buhari has promised to ensure a credible poll in the same year.

But despite the promises made, this coalition of civil society organization in the South Eastern part of Nigeria is raising some grave concerns over an alleged poll rigging plot by the election Management Body to act contrary to its publicly stated aim of conducting a free, fair, and Credible Election in 2023.

The group claimed that INEC had been forensically followed through, noting that out of the 120 million estimated eligible voters in Nigeria, about 77.7 million citizens will be disenfranchised.

The group claims that the commission had flooded the National Register of Voters with about 20 Million illegal migrants, underage children, ghost or fake names, and stolen identities, as well as calls for mass deployment of service chiefs in the South East region.

Some of its members draw concerns on the need to address the grave issues raised by the coalition in its address.

The South East is expected to be an interesting battleground being a traditional stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party with the All Progressives Congress has also made inroads in the last few years in some of the Five States.

The entrance of former Anambra State Governor, Mr Peter Obi, into the Presidential race on the platform of the Labour Party has however changed all the permutations including in the South-South and this alarm may not be unconnected with the activities of some key stakeholders and the need to at times outdo each Other in being visible.