The Abrahamic Mission, an NGO of Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, has organised a one-day summit ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The programme according to the organisers was put together in order to ensure peaceful and credible elections in 2023.
Muslim News gathered that the presidential and national assembly elections have been fixed for February 25, 2023 while the gubernatorial and state houses of assembly elections will hold on March 11.
The one-day summit which was held at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, was attended by representatives of various religious organisations, political parties, security agencies and INEC officials.
Some of those in attendance are: Dean of Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Professor Afis Oladosu, former Head of Department of Arabic and Islamic studies, UI Professor Kamil Olosho, Reverend Ayo Albert Olaniyi from Anglican Church, Ibadan and Imam Fuad Adeyemi, National Chief Imam of Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society.
The convener, Imam Fuad Adeyemi, in his welcome address said that the program was aimed at bringing diverse people to the discussion table on issues bordering on the peaceful prosecution of the 2023 General Elections.
He said, “The program aims to bring diverse people to the discussion table on issues bordering on the peaceful prosecution of the 2023 General Elections, the Political Parties Chieftains, Department of State Services (DSS), The Nigerian Police, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials, The National Orientation Agency (NOA), Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) as discussants while the faith based communities will be in attendance.
Adeyemi, while on the essence of the summit, insisted that the programme was organised so as to sensitise the stakeholders on their roles ahead of the election.
“We are here to discuss the tips of 2023 elections. To talk about the elections and talk about the stakeholders.
“All of us have roles to play. The religious leaders, security agencies and others. Religious leaders have to take the message to their congregations. The media should help us to disseminate the message too.
“The program aims to bring diverse people to the discussion table on issues bordering on the peaceful prosecution of the 2023 general elections.
Head of Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Civil Society of INEC in Oyo state, Mrs. Rosemary Alaba Adeniyi, said that no one can alter or influence the results of the 2023 general elections.
Adeniyi while speaking at the summit insisted that the allegiance of INEC is to Nigerians, saying that no one can alter the results of the election in 2023.
“Why I said that it is not possible to alter the results is because of the gave changer INEC has introduced into the electoral system that is Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
“BVAS is another key element that will make sure that the election is credible and the result is not altered.
“The reason is that BVAS will be used to do accreditation on the day of election, to authenticate the voter and verify. After voting at the polling unit, the result will be entered into the result sheet, the result sheet will be snapped by the BVAS, it will be transferred to the INEC result viewing portal where everyone can view the result.
“That is the reason why I said that the result cannot be altered by anyone.”
Other speakers at the event include Olosho, Oladosu and Olaniyi.
Those who spoke said that all stakeholders have roles to play in ensuring free, fair and credible elections in 2023.
