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Uploading Elections Results To IReV Not Relevant In Court – SDP Presidential Candidate

Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo has faulted the currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Gatekeepers News reports that the CBN had October announced the redesign of N200, N500, and N1000. The apex bank had said advised customers to deposit their old notes before January 31, 2023, when they would cease to be legal tender. However, on Sunday, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele said President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the extension of the phase-out to February 10 following several complaints that many Nigerians could not access the new naira notes. Speaking during an interview on Sunday, the SDP presidential candidate said there were no policy or project management parameters behind the currency redesign initiative. He said the process of currency swap should not be “chaotic”, noting that the currency is central to the economy. “There is no policy behind it. There was no planning, definition of stakeholders, or project management parameters. No timeline and simulation done,” he told Channels Television. “The process is not supposed to be chaotic. The economy is a sensitive thing. Currency is so central to the economy because it is the means of exchange.” Adebayo criticised the CBN governor for seeking the approval of the president for a one-week extension, adding that the apex bank should not be “subject to political interpretation”. The SDP presidential candidate said Emefiele should have consulted with the board of the apex bank on the currency redesign rather than the President, who he said is a “political leader”. “The CBN is not supposed to be allowing itself to be subject to political interpretation,” he said. “Even this idea of going to the president to take permission for a one-week extension, none of that is …there is a board of governors for the CBN that is supposed to deal with the internal business of the CBN. “With all due respect, for every ailment of this election, there is INEC, DSS, and police. You don’t want to give the CBN a role to play in the management of the election. “To say, I have gone to take instruction and permission from the President to add more 10 days, that is not how to run the CBN with all due respect. “The idea is not something that the changing of currency is emanating from a political person, which is the president. “The idea is that the CBN belongs to all of us whether there is a change of government, party, or person. “It looks like the governor of the CBN should rather be working in the Presidency as a Special Adviser or something. “I don’t want the CBN to look like an extension of the politics of Nigeria.”

Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 elections, Adewole Adebayo has said the issues around the result viewing portal may not be relevant to the presidential election petition tribunal.

Gatekeepers News reports that before the 2023 polls, the IReV portal was part of the technologies introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve the transparency of the electoral process.

INEC had assured that polling unit results would be uploaded to the portal in real-time. The narrative, however, changed during the presidential election which was held on February 25, as the portal was inactive for some time after the conclusion of the election.

The development sparked controversy over the outcome of the presidential election.

Adebayo, while speaking on 90MinutesAfrica, a show hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo, said the debate on the IReV may be considered inconsequential by the supreme court.

The SDP standard bearer said many of the promises made by INEC, including uploading the presidential election results to the IReV in real-time, are not recognised by law and thus not legally binding.

Adebayo said, “The supreme court is interested in the information inside the BVAS, the information in the voter’s register, and the actual result sheets. The issues of uploading results to IReV and other promises made by INEC are mostly not relevant in the determination of whether an election was properly conducted or not.”

He noted that the allegation that President-elect Bola Tinubu was convicted in the US cannot hold water in court.

The SDP candidate said, “The Nigerian constitution limits any conviction to the last ten years.

“So if it happened thirty years ago, though it is still morally reprehensible if the conviction actually happened, you can only use it to campaign against the person, but you [can]not bring it to the courts because they are constitutionally barred from talking about it after ten years.”

Adebayo also spoke on the issue of the alleged double nomination of Vice-President-elect Kashim Shettima, saying it may not be considered to be a “serious issue” in court.

He said, “Primary election is not done for the position of running mate.

“So even if Shettima submitted his withdrawal from the senatorial race late, the important thing is that on the day of the election, while he was running as VP, somebody else was contesting as a senator in his constituency.”

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