Adesina added, “So, how and why can the same person have issues with BVAS? I saw that group on television, alleging that there was plan to remove the INEC Chairman and the media gave them that opportunity.”
By Jeffrey Agbo
Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has discredited the rumoured plan to remove the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and stop the use of Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVAS) in the 2023 polls.
Speaking on Tuesday at a policy dialogue programme organised to mark the 2022 International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (IDEI) in Abuja, Adesina knocked the media for giving room for such allegations to be made through their platforms.
The policy dialogue, themed “Media, Civil Society and Violence-free Election in Nigeria”, was organised by the Ministry of Justice, Kano State Government and Managing Conflict in Nigeria Programme.
Adesina said, “Recently, there was one group that said the chairman of INEC was going to be removed because may be they didn’t want BVAS.
“How many times has the President spoken about the role of technology in getting him into office?
“He has spoken about it locally, internationally that three times he contested three times he ended at the Supreme Court because the government of the day will just write results.
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“Then he said until technology came and there was a permanent voter cards and so it was difficult to write results.”
Adesina added, “So, how and why can the same person have issues with BVAS? I saw that group on television, alleging that there was plan to remove the INEC Chairman and the media gave them that opportunity.
“Such things should be treated with contradictions because they don’t make sense, at least not under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.”
The presidential spokesman said that on Monday, Buhari at a meeting in Imo gave matching order to the police to ensure 2023 general election is credible.
“If you are going to rig elections, of course the police will be critical in rigging it and here you hear the president saying at every opportunity that don’t rig election,” he said.
Adesina added that while Buhari has always described his commitment to credible elections, the media, the electoral management body and other stakeholders have critical roles to play to achieve that.
Adesina represented the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, at the event.