CUPP directs members to resume campaign 

THE Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has directed the over 51 parties in its fold to resume campaign in line with the provisions of Section 99 of the Electoral Act.

Spokesman of the group, Ikenga Ugochinyere, said in a statement in Abuja on Sunday that the campaign should end by midnight of Thursday 21st February 2019 as required by Law.

Citing Section 99(1) of the Electoral Act provides that public campaigns shall end 24 hours prior to the day of Polling, the coalition said it is therefore wrong to expect that political parties will stop campaigns on 14th February for Polls that will open on 23rd February.

The statement added: “It is unlawful and statutorily wrong to curtail the clear intendment of this Section of the Electoral Act which is clear and unambiguous.

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“Campaigning until 24 hours prior to the day of polling is a statutory right of parties and cannot be taken away, curtailed or abridged by any executive fiat. INEC cannot on its own accord limit the period of campaigns as it is regulated by law.

“Member parties are hereby directed to continue campaigns from tomorrow and focus on voter remobilisation and ensure that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is elected and declared the winner of the Presidential election.”

Recall that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, had during the commission’s meeting with stakeholders in Abuja on Saturday, maintained that campaign for the presidential election remained closed despite the election postponement.