PDP Calls for International Sanctions & Resignation Towards INEC Chairman
The Independent National Electoral Commission’s Chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, has been called on to resign by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for allegedly breaking the terms of the Election Act and manipulating and changing the results of the presidential election on February 25.
The PDP also requested that the Director General of the Directorate of State Services and the Inspector General of Police promptly launch investigations into the electoral fraud and tampering committed by INEC with a view to bringing charges against Yakubu and other INEC employees.
This information was revealed by the PDP at a press conference held on Friday at its Abuja headquarters.
Bola Tinubu, the nominee of the All Progressives Congress, was declared president-elect by INEC, a decision that the opposition PDP and Labour Party rejected because to allegations of multiple electoral crimes. This was reported by Democracy Reporters.
At the press conference, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP’s national publicity secretary, added that the party had asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to launch an investigation into claims that a number of top INEC officials had been heavily compromised financially in order to rig the election.
“The PDP demands that Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, Chairman of INEC, immediately resign from his position, having abused the trust and destroyed the expectation of millions of Nigerians, political parties, and the world community for a free, fair, and credible election,” Ologunagba said.
“His resignation as chairman will be the first move toward cleaning up the electoral commission and winning back Nigerians’ trust, particularly as the country gets ready for the newly scheduled gubernatorial and state assembly elections on March 18, 2023.
The PDP demands that the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Directorate of State Services immediately begin investigations into the electoral fraud and tampering committed by INEC with a view to bringing charges against Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu and other commission employees.
“In a similar spirit, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should launch an investigation into claims that a number of top INEC officials were gravely financially compromised in order to rig the election.
The PDP has examined the newest plan by INEC to modify the BVAS devices in order to deny Nigerians and political parties, particularly the PDP and its candidate, access to important information needed to pursue their case at the Presidential Election Tribunal, the party’s spokesperson noted.
The spokesperson insisted that it was also crystal clear that the commission’s chief purposefully hampered the uploading and transmission of results straight from the polling places in favor of the APC, “as now abundantly exposed in the pictorial and video evidence of compromised results sheets in many parts of the country.
He questioned why the INEC chairman allegedly “rushed” to announce and declare allegedly tampered results that were not sent directly from the polling places to INEC’s server or website and disregarded the objections and complaints made during the collation of results in willful violation of Sections 64 (4) (a) and (b), 64 (6) (a)-(d), and 65 (1) (c) of the Electoral Act. 2022.
For emphasis, he continued, “While Section 64 (4) (a) and (b) expressly require the INEC Chairman in his capacity as the Chief Returning Officer to announce only results that were transmitted directly from the polling units, Sections 64 (6) (a)-(d) and 65 (1) (c) compel INEC to take steps, including the review of collation, in cases of disputes, complaints, or objections regarding a collated result or the result of an election from any polling unit where they
The creator of the image further stated that Yakubu is not only guilty of a serious electoral offense by breaking these provisions of the Electoral Act of 2022 and INEC’s regulations, guidelines, and manual for the election, but that he has also “betrayed, thrashed and thrown overboard the trust,” confidence, and hope Nigerians placed in him and the electoral commission to conduct a free, fair, and credible election in the nation.
Further, he claimed that Yakubu’s continued tenure might enable the suppression, falsification, and destruction of crucial evidence needed to further expose the commission’s irregularities and violations before the Presidential Election Tribunal.
He said that the PDP took note of the allegations from several international organizations that denounced the leadership of INEC for activities that undermined democracy during the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25.
The party also urged the international community to immediately impose sanctions, including travel restrictions, on the INEC chairman and other top officials of the commission for their roles in “compromising democracy” in Nigeria. The party urged Nigerians to maintain calm but to be extremely vigilant as the party continues to take steps to retrieve its mandate at the Presidential Election Tribunal.
