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Forty-five
registered political parties, under the aegis of the Concerned
Political Parties (CPP), have opposed the plan by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accredit voters before the
commencement of voting.

The parties said in
Abuja at the weekend that if implemented, “the freedom of voters to
come, vote and go or stay would have been abridged.”

INEC recently announced that voters will be accredited from 8 am to 12.30 pm before voting will commence.

Leader of CPP,
Yahaya Ndu, who spoke on behalf of the group, argued that with the
plan, there might be chaos and anarchy, alleging that it is a ploy to
truncate the April polls.

Mr Ndu, who is the
chairman and presidential candidate of the African Renaissance Party
(ARP), recalled that contrary to the acclaimed success of the January
governorship poll in Delta State because of the measure, the CPP has
discovered that there were incidences of violence that led to the death
of some people.

“This indeed led
the INEC Chairman to visit Ughelli and announce the cancellation of the
Ughelli election. Much to the chagrin of stakeholders, INEC Chairman
reversed the cancellation and upheld the results as earlier announced,”
Mr Ndu said.

‘Parties are here to stay’

Mr Ndu criticised
the commission over its alleged threat to de-register political
parties, adding that the group will go to court to challenge the
provision as enshrined in the Electoral Act, which he claimed runs
counter to international norms as well as the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Stating that the constitution guarantees freedom of association, Mr
Ndu asked INEC to discharge its responsibilities in a responsible
manner because of the need to succeed in the April elections.