Electoral Act: UPN backs Buhari on assent withdrawal

Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto

The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), has backed President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to withhold his assent to the amended Electoral Act passed by the National Assembly.

The party equally faulted a threat by the coalition of political parties (CUPP) to boycott the 2019 general election following the president’s refusal to sign the act.

In a statement in Sokoto signed by the  party’s National Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Abdullahi Sokoto, the party posited that there was nothing to worry about President Buhari’s decision.

“The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) is in total support of President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to withhold (his) assent to the amended Electoral Act,” the party stated.

“One wonders, where was the coalition of political parties (CUPP) when the leadership of the National Assembly went for unnecessary and unwarranted long vacation forgetting that there was an Electoral Act waiting for (the) president’s urgent attention?’

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“Closing the National Assembly for that long time indicated that the action was a deliberate attempt to either cause confusion or cast aspersion on the person of President Muhammadu Buhari or his government.”

The party therefore called on Nigerians to be vigilant and watch the antics and actions of some politicians and political organisations that are planning to cause confusion, noting that it was becoming glaring that they would lose the forthcoming elections.

UPN also distanced itself from the activities of CUPP, stating that the coalition was nothing but a willing tool in the hands of the opposition People Democratic Party (PDP) as partners in the act of propaganda.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) is not among (the) parties that endorsed Atiku Abubakar as their presidential candidate; our candidate remains Alhaji Auwal Mohammad Wakil,” Abdullahi Sokoto who is also the Director General of the UPN’s presidential campaign added.