Tag: European Union

Boris Johnson Warns EU He Will Not Delay Brexit

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at the Leaders for Nature and People event during the Climate Action Summit 2019 in the United Nations General Assembly Hall on September 23, 2019.

 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the European Union on Sunday that he will not delay Brexit beyond October 31, underlining that his latest proposals are a last chance to reach a deal.

Johnson told French President Emmanuel Macron in a telephone call on Sunday that “the EU should not be lured into the mistaken belief that the UK will stay in the EU after October 31st”, a Downing Street spokesman quoted him as saying.

The UK premier said he would not request another delay, despite British MPs passing a law last month that requires him to seek another Brexit delay if he fails to secure an agreement by the end of a make-or-break EU summit on October 17-18.

This law was “undermining negotiations, but if EU leaders are betting that it will prevent no deal, that would be a historic misunderstanding”, a senior Downing Street source said.

“The UK has made a big, important offer but it’s time for the (European) Commission to show a willingness to compromise too. If not the UK will leave with no deal,” the source added.

European leaders have reacted tepidly to London’s latest propositions.

Britain has urged the EU to intensify talks over the proposals, as European leaders warned it must revise its plans within days in order to conclude a deal this month.

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the bloc needed to show “creativity and flexibility” ahead of October 31 — when Johnson has vowed to end the country’s 46 years of EU membership with or without an agreement.

With the EU asking for reworked proposals within days, an Elysee Palace spokesperson said Macron agreed in his call with Johnson that talks between EU top negotiator Michel Barnier’s team and British officials should continue in the coming days “to assess if an agreement is possible” by the end of the week.

Barclay reiterated that the ideas Johnson has formally submitted to Brussels were “a broad landing zone” and “intense negotiations” were now necessary.

“We’ve set out very serious proposals including compromise on our side,” he told the BBC.

“We do need to get into the intensive negotiations on the text to clarify what the deal is.”

Barclay added the government was considering holding a parliamentary vote ahead of the EU summit to show Brussels the plans have MPs’ support.

European leaders had reportedly balked at Britain’s request to keep initial discussions on the proposals going through the weekend, and they will resume on Monday, with time running out ahead of the EU summit.

 ‘No more dither’

Johnson began phoning European leaders at the weekend to sell his proposals, speaking to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Saturday.

Rutte tweeted he had told Johnson “important questions remain about the British proposals” and “there is a lot of work to be done ahead” of the summit.

Barnier told an event in France Saturday that while an agreement was still possible it “will be very difficult to reach”.

The British leader is hoping the threat of a messy no-deal departure in less than three weeks could force the EU to compromise.

Barclay said Sunday that the government would comply with the legislation requiring Johnson to seek another delay if no deal is reached.

But in identical articles for two Brexit-backing British tabloids, Johnson insisted the country will leave the bloc later this month.

 ‘Ready to work’

The British proposals submitted to Brussels Wednesday centre on how to manage the post-Brexit border between British province Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

Johnson wants Northern Ireland’s devolved assembly — which has been suspended for almost three years — to vote every four years on whether to maintain EU rather than British regulations there.

He has also proposed the province leaves the EU’s customs union along with the rest of the UK, with required checks to rely on untried technology and carried out away from the sensitive border.

Brussels has said the plans “do not provide a basis for concluding an agreement”.

It sees the potential for rampant smuggling while Ireland is concerned hardline Northern Irish unionists would have an effective veto.

Barclay, who travelled to Amsterdam Sunday for Brexit talks, suggested Britain could be willing to consider alternative ways of meeting its aims.

“We’re ready to work on that,” he said.

Ireland’s leader Leo Varadkar said Saturday there is “plenty of time” to put forward alternatives and he was trying to arrange a meeting with Johnson next week, Irish broadcaster RTE reported.

AFP

EU Urges ‘Maximum Restraint’ Over Attacks On Saudi Oil Facilities

European Union, Ogbonnaya Onu, Science and technology

 

The European Union on Monday stressed its call for “maximum restraint” following weekend attacks on key Saudi oil facilities that have triggered bellicose words from the US, which blamed Iran.

EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told journalists: “We see them (the attacks) as a real threat to regional security, and at a time that tensions in the region are running very high this attack undermines ongoing work at de-escalation and dialogue.”

No-Deal Brexit Would Betray Britain, Says Ex-Finance Minister

Photo: Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP

 

A no-deal Brexit would betray Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, former finance minister Philip Hammond said Wednesday, as he slammed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “wrecking” approach to negotiations.

Hammond, who quit as chancellor just hours before Johnson took over from Theresa May on July 24, said there was no popular or parliamentary mandate for a no-deal Brexit, saying most people wanted an orderly exit from the EU.

“No-deal would be a betrayal of the 2016 referendum result. It must not happen,” he wrote in The Times newspaper.

He said it could turn Britain into “a diminished and inward-looking little England”.

The British parliament three times rejected the withdrawal agreement May negotiated with Brussels, with many MPs troubled by the “backstop” — a mechanism that would keep the UK in EU customs arrangements to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Hammond said the shift of position from seeking changes to the backstop to demanding its removal “is a pivot from a tough negotiating stance to a wrecking one”, setting an impossibly high bar.

“This is a demand the EU cannot, and will not, accede to.

“It’s time for our government to demonstrate its commitment to a genuine negotiation with the EU to achieve a deal.”

Britain is due to leave the European Union on October 31.

Johnson has pledged to stick to this date, whether a deal can be struck with Brussels or not.

Hammond said a no-deal Brexit would also threaten the United Kingdom’s integrity as it risked collapsing the peace accords in Northern Ireland and triggering a referendum on the province leaving the UK and joining the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state.

It would also lead to a second secession referendum in Scotland and the likely break-up of the UK, Hammond claimed.

He also said US talk of a “great trade deal” meant a trade deal that was great for them, opening up Britain to US produce that would “destroy British agriculture”.

Hammond warned that if parliament wanted to go down a particular route to prevent a no-deal Brexit, the means would emerge to allow that to happen.

John Bercow, the speaker of parliament’s lower House of Commons, warned seperately he would “fight it with every bone in my body” any attempt by Johnson to suspend parliament to force through no-deal against MPs’ wishes.

The Commons “must have its way”, he told an audience at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, according to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Johnson Putting UK On ‘Collision Course’ With EU – Irish minister

A video grab from footage broadcast by the UK Parliament’s Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) shows Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson making a statement in the House of Commons in London on July 25, 2019.

 

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has deliberately set Britain on a “collision course” with the EU over Brexit negotiations, Ireland’s foreign minister was quoted as saying on Friday.

“He seems to have made a deliberate decision to set Britain on a collision course with the European Union and with Ireland in relation to the Brexit negotiations,” Simon Coveney was quoted by Irish state broadcaster RTE as saying in Belfast.

“I think only he can answer the question as to why he’s doing that.”

In his maiden parliamentary speech as prime minister on Thursday Johnson promised to press ahead with plans to reopen the deal agreed with the EU — despite firm pushback from other EU leaders.

Tension around the withdrawal deal centres on the so-called backstop — a mechanism designed to preserve the EU’s single market and prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.

The clause was the chief reason the deal thrice failed to pass through the British parliament under Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May, bringing the nation to the brink of a crash out, requiring extensions from the EU and ultimately unseating her from power.

But on Thursday Johnson hardened rhetoric around a no-deal Brexit, which would see Britain leave the trading bloc without cushioning measures on October 31 if a deal cannot be brokered.

Coveney said Johnson’s remarks were “very unhelpful”.

“From a Brexit negotiating  perspective it was a very bad day yesterday, and we’ll have to wait and see whether that message coming from London changes,” he said.

EU Says May Resignation Changes Nothing In Brexit Talks

 

The European Union said Friday that Prime Minister Theresa May’s resignation does nothing to change its position on the Brexit withdrawal deal that its members agreed with Britain.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker noted May’s decision “without personal joy,” a spokeswoman said, adding that the council of EU leaders has “set out its position” on the Brexit deal.

READ ALSO: Macron Urges ‘Rapid Clarification’ On Brexit As May Steps Down

Some of the candidates to replace May as leader of the Conservative Party and thus prime minister have said they would seek to change the terms of the divorce deal she negotiated.

But commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva old reporters that the other 27 EU leaders had approved the deal as it stands and that there are no plans to re-open its terms.

As has long been the case, Brussels could envisage modifying a non-binding political declaration that accompanies the Brexit treaty to flesh out ambitions for future EU-UK ties.

But the withdrawal agreement, which May tried and failed three times to get past the British parliament, is not up for renegotiation, Andreeva said, reiterating the EU stance.

Juncker, she said, “very much liked and appreciated working with Prime Minister May and, as he as said before, Theresa May is a woman of courage for whom he has great respect.

“He will equally respect and establish working relations with any new prime minister, whoever they may be, without stoping his conversations with Prime Minister May,” she said.

“Our position on the Withdrawal Agreement and anything else has been set out by Margaritis yesterday. There is no change to that,” she added, referring to chief EU spokesman Margaritis Schinas.

On Thursday, Schinas had told reporters: “Our position is clear: the divorce agreement, the withdrawal agreement, cannot be reopened, cannot be renegotiated.

“The European Council has included in its conclusions several sentences which say that the political declaration can be reviewed if and as long as it does not undermine the spirit of the agreement.”

Separately, the EU official who negotiated the agreement with May, Michel Barnier tweeted: “I would like to express my full respect for @theresa_may and for her determination, as Prime Minister, in working towards the UK’s orderly withdrawal from the EU.

AFP

EU Condemns Trump’s Withdrawal From UN Arms Trade Treaty

 

The European Union warned Saturday that US President Donald Trump’s rejection of a UN treaty designed to regulate the global arms trade would hamper the global fight against illicit weapons trafficking.

“A decision by the US to revoke its signature would not contribute to the ongoing efforts to encourage transparency in the international arms trade, to prevent illicit trafficking and to combat the diversion of conventional arms,” said the EU’s chief diplomat, Federica Mogherini.

“The EU will continue to call on all states, and in particular the major arms exporters and importers, to join the Arms Trade Treaty without delay,” she said.

READ ALSO: Trump Rejects “Misguided” UN Arms Treaty

Trump said Friday the United States would not abide by the 2013 treaty aimed at regulating the global arms trade, calling it “misguided” and encroachment on US sovereignty.

The US Senate never ratified the treaty after former president Barack Obama endorsed it. Trump said he was revoking his predecessor’s signature.

Mogherini said the EU viewed the pact — which seeks to regulate the flow of weapons to conflict zones — as key to “contributing to international efforts to ensure peace, security and stability.

“All 28 Member States have joined the ATT and are determined in pursuing its objectives and its universal ratification and implementation,” Mogherini said.

The treaty, which entered into effect in December 2014, requires member countries to keep records of international transfers of weapons and to prohibit cross-border shipments that could be used in human rights violations or attacks on civilians.

While 130 countries originally signed the treaty, only 101 have ratified it. Those include major powers like France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The world’s largest arms traders, the United States, China and Russia, have not joined.

“The unregulated arms trade continues to cause major suffering in many parts of the world, fuelling conflicts, terrorism and organised crime,” Mogherini said.

“Small arms and light weapons kill around 500,000 people every year, in addition to the victims of other conventional weapons.”

Trump has already withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement on curbing Earth-warming carbon emissions, signed by most of the world’s nations.

He has also taken the country out of a multilateral nuclear deal on Iran, as well as a Cold War-era arms treaty with Russia.

The EU has hit out at each of these moves, which have soured transatlantic ties and relations between Washington and its European allies in NATO.

AFP

EU Unveils Ethics Guidelines For Artificial Intelligence

European Union, Ogbonnaya Onu, Science and technology

 

The European Union presented ethics guidelines Monday as it seeks to promote its own artificial intelligence sector, which has fallen behind developments in China and the United States.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, unveiled a framework aimed at boosting trust in AI by ensuring, for example, data about EU citizens are not used to harm them.

“Ethical AI is a win-win proposition that can become a competitive advantage for Europe: being a leader of human-centric AI that people can trust,” Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip said.

The guidelines list seven key requirements for “trustworthy AI” established by independent experts consulted by the Commission.

Among them is one ensuring that data about citizens will not be used to harm them or to discriminate against them.

The measures also call for mechanisms to ensure accountability for AI systems and for AI algorithms to be secure and reliable enough to deal with errors or inconsistencies.

The Commission now aims to launch a pilot phase in which industry, research, and public authorities test the list of key requirements.

It will also involve companies from other countries and international organisations.

The Commission aims to improve cooperation with “like-minded partners” such as Japan, Canada or Singapore and continue working with the G7 and G20 groups of leading economies.

The updated guidelines flow from the Commission’s AI strategy unveiled in April last year, which aimed to bring public and private investment in the sector to at least 20 billion euros annually over the next decade.

Europe is trying to catch up with both the US and China.

A study published last month showed that China is poised to overtake the United States in artificial intelligence with a surge in academic research on the key technology.

A burgeoning sector, AI is already used to recognise people in photos, filter unwanted content from online platforms and enable cars to drive themselves.

AFP

UK Issues Passports Without ‘European Union’ On Cover

courtesy: Susan Hindle Barone Twitter handle

 

Britain has begun issuing passports with the words “European Union” removed from the front cover — despite Brexit being delayed and its political leaders deadlocked over how to extricate the country from the bloc.

The interior ministry said Saturday that a longstanding decision to start introducing passports without reference to the EU had gone ahead from March 30, the day after the original date for Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May has delayed leaving the bloc after 46 years of membership amid stubborn opposition in parliament to the divorce deal she finalised with European leaders in November.

MPs have overwhelmingly rejected the agreement three times.

READ ALSO: UK Govt Open To Brexit Compromise With Opposition, Says Finance Minister

Ahead of an EU summit on Wednesday, she was forced to ask them for another extension, until June 30, to prevent Britain departing with no deal at the end of next week.

But with EU heads growing increasingly impatient at the political paralysis in Westminster, they could offer just a shorter postponement — or a longer period of up to a year.

The other 27 members must give unanimous backing to any extension.

May is trying to break the parliamentary gridlock by striking a compromise deal with the main Labour opposition.

Senior ministers have spent several days negotiating with its leaders, but there were signs Friday that talks were stalling after Labour complained of no “real change or compromise”.

British finance minister Philip Hammond nonetheless struck an optimistic tone at a meeting Saturday of European finance ministers in Bucharest, telling reporters there were “no red lines” in the ongoing discussions.

“I expect we will reach some form of agreement,” he predicted.

– ‘Restore national identity’ –
In an apt sign of the befuddling circumstances around Brexit, Britain’s interior ministry confirmed that some newly-issued passports now omit references to the EU atop the cover while others still bear the bloc’s name.

It said the discrepancy was due to an attempt to save public money and insisted both designs would be “equally valid for travel”.

“In order to use leftover stock and achieve best value for the taxpayer, passports that include the words ‘European Union’ will continue to be issued for a short period,” a spokeswoman added.

British passports have become ensnared in the country’s Brexit divisions after the government announced in 2017 it would return to traditional blue passports “to restore national identity”.

The travel documents had dark blue covers from 1921, but Britain switched to burgundy from 1988, in common with other passports in what was then the European Community.

Brexit backers are thrilled by the highly symbolic change, while those who support remaining in the bloc have mocked their excitement.

Last year it emerged that Franco-Dutch company Gemalto had won the contract to make the new blue passports, prompting fury from Brexit campaigners and more ridicule from Remainers that a British company was not chosen.

The new production contract is to begin in October 2019, with the passports currently being issued without reference to the EU on them still in the burgundy colour.

– ‘Listen to suggestions’ –
Whether Britain will have left the bloc by then is uncertain.

Many of May’s Conservative colleagues are vociferously opposed to her outreach to Labour, while hardline Brexiteers remain implaccably opposed to her deal.

Hammond, who backed Remain in Britain’s 2016 referendum and is seen as favouring as soft a Brexit as possible, urged his divided party to show flexibility.

“We should be open to listen to suggestions that others have made and some people in the Labour Party are making other suggestions,” he said.

Labour is pushing for a much closer post-Brexit alliance with the EU that includes participation in a customs union.

May has previously dismissed the idea because it bars Britain from striking its own trade deals with global giants such as China and the United States.

Labour’s home affairs spokeswoman Diane Abbott said Saturday her team must compromise.

“The government perhaps has to show a little more flexibility than it seems to have done so far,” she told the BBC.

British PM May Seeks Brexit Extension Until June 30

A video grab from footage broadcast by the UK Parliament’s Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) shows Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May speaking during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) question and answer session in the House of Commons in London on March 27, 2019. 
HO / PRU / AFP

 

Prime Minister Theresa May asked the European Union on Friday to delay Britain’s departure from the bloc until June 30, with the extension ending earlier if parliament approves her Brexit deal.

“The United Kingdom proposes that (the extension) should end on June 30 2019. If the parties are able to ratify before this date, the government proposes that the period should be terminated earlier,” May wrote in a letter to EU Council president Donald Tusk.

Downing Street released May’s letter moments after a senior EU official told AFP that Tusk was proposing to postpone Brexit day by up to a year, also pending parliament’s approval of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.

READ ALSO: EU Council, Tusk To Offer Flexible 12-Month Brexit Delay – Official

The current deadline is April 12, which has already been pushed back once from March 29 because of the UK parliament’s failure on three occasions to back the deal May signed with the other 27 EU leaders in December.

In her letter, May said she wanted to make sure that Britain left the bloc after 46 years in an orderly manner, with an agreement that could help unwind intricate political, security, diplomatic and economic ties.

“The government’s policy has always been and remains to leave the European Union in an orderly way, and without undue delay,” May wrote.

“The government agrees that leaving with a deal is the best outcome,” she said.

AFP

 

May Tries To Save Brexit Plan After Speaker’s Bombshell

A video grab from footage broadcast by the UK Parliament’s Parliamentary Recording Unit (PRU) shows Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May making a statement in the House of Commons in London on March 13, 2019 after MP’s voted to reject leaving the EU with no deal.
HO / PRU / AFP

 

British Prime Minister Theresa May held crisis talks with her ministers Tuesday after the speaker of parliament threatened to derail her EU withdrawal plan just 10 days before Brexit day, leaving her strategy in tatters.

May is still hoping she can get the divorce agreement she struck with the European Union through parliament before March 29, despite MPs having rejected it twice.

But in a dramatic ruling that prompted fury in government and warnings of a constitutional crisis, House of Commons speaker John Bercow said on Monday he could not put it to another vote in its current form.

READ ALSO: Putin Signs Laws Against ‘Disrespecting’ Authorities, Fake News

Weeks of chaotic political deadlock in parliament have already forced May to concede that Brexit must be delayed, amid fears of an economic shock if Britain ends its 46-year membership of the EU with no new arrangements in place.

But she had been hoping to ask EU leaders for only a short delay when they meet at a Brussels summit on Thursday, warning that without a deal, any extension would be lengthy.

‘Brexit destroyer’

Pro-Brexit newspapers in Britain condemned Bercow as the “Brexit Destroyer” and reports suggested May is now planning to ask for a 12-month delay.

“The reality is the best way to deliver on Brexit is to back the prime minister’s deal,” Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay told the BBC.

He said cabinet ministers would discuss Bercow’s ruling at their weekly meeting on Tuesday.

Meanwhile in Brussels, EU ministers preparing for this week’s summit wait to see the fallout.

“There is less clarity today than yesterday,” said George Ciamba, minister delegate for European affairs for Romania, which holds the rotating EU presidency.

“We are going to adopt a number of contingency measures for the worst-case scenario, the worst-case scenario being that Britain leaves without an agreement.”

‘Only deal on the table’

The speaker’s ruling adds further complexity to an already chaotic Brexit process that has exposed deep rifts in parliament.

MPs still cannot agree how to implement the 2016 referendum to leave the EU, and voters remain divided almost three years after they voted 52 to 48 percent for Brexit.

Even before Bercow’s move, May was by no means certain of getting her deal through parliament after it was decisively rejected in January and then again last week.

Many of her Conservative MPs are still opposed to the text, believing it keeps Britain too closely aligned to the EU.

Several suggested that Bercow’s ruling means May must now return to the negotiating table, even at this late stage.

However, Barclay warned: “It is the only deal on the table from the EU — the EU have been consistent on that.

“Either we back the prime minister’s deal and get Brexit over the line or we risk either a softer Brexit or no Brexit at all.”

Bercow’s decision was based on a precedent dating back to 1604, that the same or “substantially the same” proposal cannot be put to MPs again in the same parliamentary session.

He indicated that the changes necessary to bring the deal back for another vote would have to result from talks with the EU.

‘Major constitutional crisis’

Constitutional experts suggested that if the EU agrees to an extension, that might also constitute enough of a change to have a vote after the summit, next week.

If a majority of MPs swing behind May’s deal, they could pass a motion to force Bercow to allow another vote.

Solicitor General Robert Buckland has even suggested ending the parliamentary session early and starting another straight after.

Buckland said Bercow had triggered a “major constitutional crisis”.

There is deep frustration at the latest setback in government, where ministers have long questioned Bercow’s neutrality on Brexit.

One government source accused him of trying to force a delay in which a new, closer relationship with the EU could be agreed.

“There are ways around this,” Buckland said, but added: “We are talking about hours to March 29. Frankly we could have done without this.”

AFP

 

 

EU Worried About Process, Timing Of Onnoghen’s Suspension

EU Worried About Process, Timing Of Onnoghen’s Suspension
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen (file)

 

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) has raised concern with the suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

In a statement on Saturday, the mission questioned the process and timing of the suspension of Justice Onnoghen by President Muhammadu Buhari.

It noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had invited the European Union to observe the forthcoming general elections.

READ ALSO: Acting CJN Swears In 250 Members Of General Election Tribunals

The EOM stressed that with less than three weeks to the polls, there was a need for political parties and their candidates, as well as the electorate to be confident of the independence of the judiciary.

It wondered why Justice Onnoghen was suspended at a time so close to the swearing-in of justices for Electoral Tribunals and the hearing of election-related cases.

The mission, therefore, called on all parties to follow the processes provided for in the Constitution and to respond calmly to any issue raised.

The statement comes a day after President Buhari appointed and swore in Justice Tanko Mohammed as acting CJN.

Read the full statement from the EU EOM below;

 

The European Union was invited by the Independent National Electoral Commission to observe the 2019 general elections.

The EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) is very concerned about the process and timing of the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Walter Onnoghen, on 25 January. 

With 20 days until the presidential and National Assembly elections, political parties, candidates and voters must be able to have confidence in the impartiality and independence of the judicial system.

The decision to suspend the Chief Justice has led to many Nigerians, including lawyers and civil society observer groups, to question whether due process was followed.

The timing, just before the swearing in of justices for Electoral Tribunals and the hearing of election-related cases, has also raised concerns about the opportunity for electoral justice.

The EU EOM calls on all parties to follow the legal processes provided for in the Constitution and to respond calmly to any concerns they may have.

The EU EOM will continue observing all aspects of the election, including the independence of the election administration, the neutrality of security agencies, and the extent to which the judiciary can and does fulfil its election-related responsibilities.

INEC Uncovers ‘New Plan’ By Politicians To Buy Votes Using Food Vendors

BREAKING! General Elections: INEC Releases Full List Of Presidential, NASS Candidates
INEC Chairman, Professor Yakubu Mahmood (file)

 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has uncovered new plans by some politicians who are allegedly recruiting food vendors to facilitate vote buying in the forthcoming general elections.

INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu revealed the new vote buying technique by politicians at a meeting with the European Union elections observer group in Abuja.

According to him, the politicians have earmarked some polling units across the country where food vendors will be positioned to give cash and other incentives to voters during the exercise.

READ ALSO: PDP Presidential Council Calls On INEC To Be Transparent In Conducting Elections

Concerns about having a free, fair and credible election have continued to increase as the date for the 2019 presidential election gets closer.

International elections observer groups are taking advantage of the last minute window of discussions with INEC, to put finishing touches to their plans and operations before the elections kick off.

At this meeting with the chairman of the independent national electoral commission in Abuja, delegations of elections observer missions from the ECOWAS and the European Union want an assessment of the electoral umpire’s preparedness for the polls.

While assuring the international observer missions of INEC’s preparedness for the general elections, the chairman of the commission raised concerns about plans by some politicians who are allegedly devising a new method of vote buying.

He also reaffirmed INEC’s stance on the use of the card readers for accreditation, insisting that every other means of accreditation is illegal.

Its less than a month to the presidential elections in February the sixteenth this year. The exercise will be keenly contested by 73 presidential candidates, the largest since the return to democratic rule in 1999.