The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, is the target of a security agency investigation and prosecution request from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) due to his alleged involvement in the criminal manipulation and alteration of election results.
According to the PDP, this should come as a natural result of the INEC chairman’s resignation from his position.
At a press conference held on Friday at the PDP’s national secretariat in Abuja, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, the party’s national publicity secretary, said this.
The PDP spokesman stated, “Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s resignation as INEC chairman will be the first step towards sanitizing the electoral body and regaining the trust of Nigerians, particularly as the country gets ready for the rescheduled Governorship and State Assembly elections on March 18, 2023.
Additionally, the PDP demands that the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) immediately begin investigations into the electoral fraud and tampering committed by INEC with a view to prosecuting Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and other Commission officials for electoral offenses.
He said that the party had examined the widely denounced infractions, flagrant violation of the Electoral Act, 2022 provisions, and alteration of election results by the Prof. Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC and came to the conclusion that it was intended to thwart the will of Nigerians in the February 25, 2023 Presidential and National Assembly Elections. He then went on to explain why these demands were made.
“The PDP has also reviewed the latest scheme by INEC to reconfigure the BVAS devices, erase and destroy evidence of its manipulation of the Presidential election, and deny Nigerians and political parties, especially our Party and Candidate, access to relevant information required to prosecute our case at the Presidential Election Tribunal,” Ologunagba added.
“By flagrantly flouting the terms of the Electoral Act of 2022 as well as INEC’s Regulations, Guidelines, and Manual published for the election, it appears that the INEC, led by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, was compromised to rig the election.
“It is also obvious that the Commission under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu intentionally sabotaged the uploading and transmission of results directly from the Polling Units to give room for the criminal mutilation, alteration, and switching of election results across the country 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,” the statement continued.
He continued. “There are numerous examples in States across the six geopolitical zones of the country where winning numbers legitimately scored by the PDP were changed in the APC’s favor; results sheets from polling locations won by the PDP were destroyed and replaced with fake results sheets on which APC was given unearned winning numbers.
This further explains why INEC Chairman hurried to announce and declare manipulated results that were not sent directly from the Polling Units to INEC’s server/website and disregarded the objections and complaints raised during the collation of results in willful violation of Section 64 (4) (a) and (b), 64 (6) (a)-(d), and 65 (1) (c) of the Electoral Act. 2022.
For emphasis, Sections 64 (6) (a)-(d) and 65 (1) (c) compel INEC to take steps, including the review of collation, in the case of disputes, complaints, or objections regarding a collated result or the result of an election from any Polling Unit where they are made in violation of Section 64 (4) (a) and (b), which expressly require the INEC Chairman to announce only results that were transmitted directly from the Polling Units.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu is not only guilty of a serious electoral offense but also betrayed the confidence and hope that Nigerians placed in him and the Electoral Commission to conduct a free, fair, and credible election in the nation by flagrantly violating these provisions of the Electoral Act of 2022 and INEC’s regulations, guidelines, and manual for the election.
“Therefore, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s continued tenure in office as INEC Chairman is vexatious, detrimental to the commission’s integrity, and an unforgiveable assault on the legitimacy of our electoral system, the sensibility of Nigerians, and the international community.
“Moreover, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s stay in office is capable of paving the way for the suppression, tampering and destruction of critical evidence required to further expose the infractions and violations by the Commission at the Presidential Election Tribunal.
“This fear is evidenced by the desperation by INEC to reconfigure the BVAS devices to erase vital data contained therein.
“Consequently, the PDP demands that the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu immediately step down from office, having abused the confidence and dashed the hope of millions of Nigerians as well as political parties and the International Community for a free, fair and credible election.
“Nigerians no longer have faith in Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s capacity and integrity to manage a democracy institution as sensitive as INEC.”
“In the same vein the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should open investigation into allegations that certain top officials of INEC were heavily compromised financially to manipulate the electoral process.
“The PDP notes the reports of various International Bodies in disapproval of actions by the leadership of INEC in undermining democracy in the conduct of the February 25, 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
“In that regard, the PDP calls on the International Community to immediately impose sanctions including travel restrictions on the INEC Chairman and other top officials of the Commission over their roles in compromising democracy in Nigeria.
“The PDP calls on Nigerians to remain calm but very alert as our Party continues to take steps to retrieve our mandate at the Presidential Election Tribunal.”
(Vanguard)
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