Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to change the recently released electoral guideline for next month’s general elections.
The party, which backed the INEC’s decision to allow for simultaneous accreditation and voting, said it would help to forestall incidences of electorates not returning after accreditation as was seen during the 2015 election.
Recall that the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) is calling for the electoral guideline to be changed.
But addressing a press conference in Abuja, the presidential candidate of the party, Onwubuya Breathforth, who is also the party’s national chairman, lambasted the CUPP for calling for a change of the guidelines and urged the INEC not be intimidated into altering it.
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He said their act of seeking legal action “was backed by section 153 of the Electoral Act, which gives INEC the right to issue guidelines and regulations for the conduct of elections. So, what we are saying is that the issue of the 2019 INEC guideline is in line with its statutory provision.
“Therefore the pressure on INEC to change the guideline is unconstitutional and does not enjoy the support of the candidates. So, it is in view of this that we are before the Federal High Court, Abuja where we are seeking an injunction compelling INEC not to change the already released 2019 election guidelines.
“We are confident that Prof Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC is already for the conduct of free and credible election and we call on all key stakeholders and Nigerians to support him.
“Finally we urge the INEC not to bow to pressure as that may lead to anarchy. And in view of the matter before the court, INEC is mandated not to do anything that would tamper with the already released guidelines pending the determination of the susbstantive suit,” he said.
