A group under the aegis of Concerned Kogi Citizens Forum yesterday stormed the National Assembly, calling on the Senators and members of the House of Representatives to\u00a0 ensure that the Independent National Electoral Commission,\u00a0 INEC make the Bi- Modal Voter Accreditation System,\u00a0 BVAS mandatory for elections.<\/p>\n
The group which also took to the street in the Federal Capital Territory, however\u00a0 protested against what it described as the bypass of the BVAS technology in recent elections in the country.<\/p>\n
The group\u00a0 took its protest from the Unity Fountain, Maiitama, to the Federal Ministry of Justice and the National Assembly, just as it called on the two arms of government to ensure that BVAS is made mandatory to safe guard the country\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n
The letter of protest which is titled \u201cLETTER OF PROTEST AGAINST BVAS FRAUD\u201d read: \u201cOur Protest Letter is premised on one issue which is the recent BVAS fraud in the just concluded Kogi State Governorship Election of the 11\u201d day of November, 2023 where the BVAS Technology was bypassed.<\/p>\n
\u201cKogites feel so betrayed that after all the assurances given by INEC that BVAS machines will be used to curb over voting, some INEC officials compromised and sold Kogi State out.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs members of the CONCERNED KOGI CITIZENS FORUM, we are here to appeal to you to use your good office to save democracy in Kogi State and Nigeria as a whole. We are also humbly making this legitimate demands from you:<\/p>\n
\u201d We demand that Sections 64 {4} and 7 {2} Of The Electoral Act, 2022, which made BVAS mandatory for accreditation during elections be made operational without loopholes to be used for the good of all Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe demand that the taxpayers\u2019 money uscd to pass this bill, procure, and deploy BVAS technology must not be wasted at the expense of INEC, which has failed in its constitutional responsibilities<\/p>\n
\u201cWe further demand that the National Assembly must as a matter of urgency prevail on INEC to be impartial at all times.<\/p>\n
\u201d We demand that the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu be summoned before the senate to explain to Nigerians why he authorized his staff and legal team to defend the malpractices that were carried out against their {INEC\u2019s} own process and creation (BVAS machines).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have lost hope in Professors conducting our elections and we demand that the Institutions be changed immediately. Our Professors have let us down<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call for a change to other institutions like Retired Soldiers, Pastors, Imams, Traditionalists, etc to replace Professors during our elections<\/p>\n
\u201cWe further demand that INEC should declare election results from the IREV and only after confirming the exact number of accredited voters on BVAS.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe strongly oppose Professors harming our institutions. \u201d Professors have displayed their incompetence in the conduct of our elections over the years and we demand for a change.\u201d<\/p>\n
A group under the aegis of Concerned Kogi Citizens Forum yesterday stormed the National Assembly, calling on the Senators and members of the House of Representatives to\u00a0 ensure that the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n