Independent presidential candidate Nazlin Umar now wants Azimio One Kenya flag-bearer Raila Odinga barred from running for the presidency in the General Election slated for August 9.
Speaking to the press at the Bomas of Kenya on Monday, May 23, Umar revealed that she made an express request to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to have Odinga barred for using state machinery for his campaigns.
She accused the ODM party leader of using President Uhuru Kenyatta and his office to promote his State House bid, terming it unlawful.
"Another issue I have raised is that I want Odinga to be barred because he has allowed himself to use the president's office and Uhuru as his chief campaigner, which is in the public domain,"
"The President is campaigning, so is the entire cabinet and all civil servants. President Kenyatta publicly declared that he was going to be Raila's chief campaign manager - these are electoral offences," she claimed.
Furthermore, Umar made sensational claims that the commission led by Chairperson Wafula Chebukati planned to rig the election in favour of the Azimio One Kenya candidate whom she termed a state project.
She poked holes into the demands by IEBC to have independent candidates produce 48,000 signatures of their supporters from 24 counties and copies of their national identification (ID) cards.
"IEBC plans to use the photocopies of the IDs to lift names from the register and use them to staff ballot papers marked in favour of Raila," the presidential hopeful claimed.
Umar, who is not new to the presidential race, claimed that the request for copies of ID cards was a violation of the privacy of voters and threatened to file a petition in court.
Speaking during the event where he met with presidential candidates, Chebukati assured Kenyans that the data obtained through the submission of documents will be safe and that it had acquired the express authority.
"The commission is compliant with the Data Provisions Act and it has registered with the data commissioner and we have llegal powers to manage and handle all data processes which the candidates will be depositing with IEBC," he stated.
The IEBC Chair further revealed that 11 presidential hopefuls risked being disqualified from contesting in the General Election after they failed to submit the names of their running mates by the May 16 deadline.
Nazlin first came to the limelight in 2007, when she contested for the presidency on a Workers Congress Party of Kenya ticket, garnering 8,624 votes.
Bomas of Kenya on Monday, May 23, 2022
